Ben 10: New Century Zero
by SaurusRock625
Summary: What if Ben became a Zoid pilot for the Blitz Team after leaving Bellwood? Will he find love and defeat the Backdraft Group? Or will his past come back to haunt him? No Omnitrix Ben! Zoid Pilot Ben!
1. Chapter 1

_**You know, I've been doing quite a bit of looking around and I found that there were no crossovers between Ben 10 and Zoids. So I figured, why not write one myself? And thus, Ben 10 New Century Zero was born! I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of this story, because I feel it's gonna be amazing!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10, or Zoids!**_

* * *

"..." = Talking

 _"Italics" = Thinking._

 **"Bold" = Yelling**

 **"Bold Underlined" = Judge Talking**

* * *

 _ **Incident on the Battlefield!**_

* * *

In the middle of a desert we find a truck that looks to be full of machine parts, we find someone asleep in there. It was a man that looked to be about sixteen years old. He had brown hair that was slicked back while being slightly tousled in the front, tanned skin, and if he was awake we'd see that his eyes are green. He wears a white tee shirt with a black stripe down the middle and black trim on the ends of the sleeves, green cargo pants, and brown combat boots. He also wears a belt with pouches on it.

This man is Ben Tennyson, a former resident of a far northern town called Bellwood. Bow, you all may be wondering why I said former resident. Well, that is a story for Ben to tell. One that will have to wait until another day. But for now, let's focus on what is happening here and now, shall we?

Ben was jostled awake by the feeling of something impacting the Earth. He bolted upright in the driver's seat of his truck thinking that it was an earthquake, until he saw something rise up out of the ground.

"A Judge capsule? That must mean a Zoid Battle is about to start." Ben said to himself.

The capsule opened up to reveal the Judge inside. It began to scan the area as it made its announcement of a Zoid Battle.

 **"The area within a thirty mile radius is a designated Zoid Battlefield! This zone is now restricted! Only competitors and personnel are allowed to enter! Danger! All others must leave the area at once!"**

Ben looked to his right to see three colossal mechanical animals walking into the battlefield. They looked like sabertooth cats that were covered in yellow armor, tons of weaponry, and green eyes. Ben immediately recognized exactly what kind of Zoids these were.

"Saber Tigers." Ben said in awe.

He then looked to the other side to see three entirely different Zoids on the other team. One of them was a giant green and grey Texas longhorn. It was heavily armored, and had a widespread cannon on its back along with a pair of wicked sharp horns on its head.

Next was a Zoid that could only be described as a giant, armored wolf with an orange visor where its eyes should be. It was covered in dark blue armor plating, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth that were perfect for ripping out chunks of armor, and had a long range cannon mounted on its back.

The third Zoid was truly a sight for sore eyes. It looked like a huge lion that had blue armor plating on its face, mane, shoulders, hind legs, and back. On its belly was a powerful triple barrel Shock Cannon, and its mane looked like it was designed to fan out for some reason. It also had a set of long saber fangs in its mouth, and like the wolf Zoid it had an orange visor where its eyes should be. Ben also recognized these Zoids fairly easily.

"And on the other team we have a Dibison, a Command Wolf, and a Shield Liger." Ben said to himself.

His eyes narrowed. Just his luck that he ended up unwittingly picking a Zoid Battlefield to take a nap in. He activated the cloaking shield built into his truck, turning the vehicle invisible. He figured that since he was already there, he might as well watch the battle from a safe distance. The Judge began to sound off the start of the battle just as Ben finished with the cloaking of his truck.

 **"Area scanned… Battlefield set up! The Blitz Team vs. The Tigers Team! Battle Mode 0982! Ready…"** The Judge raised and crossed his arms in front of him as a gong sounded. **" FIGHT!"**

The Shield Liger roared in challenge as who Ben assumed to be the Blitz Team charged in to fight the Tigers Team. The three Zoids split off from each other to try and pick the Saber Tigers off one at a time, but the Tigers Team was having none of that.

They used a strategy of their own that worked well many times in wars past… Divide and conquer. They first took out the Dibison, knowing that its heavy firepower would make the battle difficult for them. Then they went after the Command Wolf, shelling it with a hellish barrage of gunfire! But they didn't get very far after that. Using a combination of the Shock Cannon mounted on its belly and a retractable Double Barrel Cannon on its back, the Shield Liger pilot managed to shoot one Saber Tiger's foot out from under it and freeze its computer system.

That didn't sit well with the other two Saber Tiger pilots. The remaining Sabers charged at the Shield Liger to try and take it out quickly and efficiently. But the pilot of the Shield Liger was a crafty pilot. They fanned out the Liger's mane and activated the E-Shield that the Shield Liger is famous for, causing the two Sabers to crash into it and fall flat on their sides.

The Shield Liger managed to get some distance, but the remaining members of the Tigers Team were hot on the Liger's tail. That's where it all went bad for both the pilot of the Shield Liger and Ben. After the Shield Liger Pilot deactivated his E-Shield to conserve energy, his Zoid tripped over Ben's truck! It ended up landing on its side and with hit with a huge amount of missile fire! But how did this affect Ben? It affected him by Ben's truck being hit by a stray shot… WITH BEN STILL IN IT!

 **"THE BATTLE IS CANCELLED! THE BATTLE IS CANCELLED! CIVILIAN ON THE BATTLEFIELD! CIVILIAN ON THE BATTLEFIELD!"**

All three members of the Blitz Team got out of their Zoids and rushed to where the remains of the truck were! They had to make sure that the driver was okay. The pilots consisted of two boys, and one girl. The first boy looked to be about seventeen years old, wears a sleeveless blue outfit with a torn up collar. He wore brown gloves, black pants, and long black boots with his outfit. He also has gold bands tattooed around his biceps. He has long, spiky brown hair, tan skin, and blue eyes.

The girl looked to be about Ben's age. She has porcelain skin, shoulder length messy fuschia hair that was parted with some above her right eye, and lavender-purple eyes. She had an hourglass figure that many girls her age would kill for, and her outfit was mostly pink with some purple and green details here and there. She was also wearing aqua colored gloves and boots. On her head was a strange object that appears to hang two long protrusions down from her head in midair.

The last pilot was a man that looked to be the oldest of the group. He was currently wearing a blue jacket over a green shirt with dark pants. He had tan skin, spiky brown hair in a crescent shaped style, and lavender-purple eyes. Miraculously, he was unharmed from the fall and the barrage of weapon fire from the Tigers Team!

These three are Brad Hunter, Leena Toros, and Leon Toros. They are members of the Blitz Team, but right now they had to make sure whoever was in that truck was still breathing!

"Hurry, get that truck open! We gotta make sure whoever is in there is alive!" Leon ordered.

"Right!" Brad and Leena replied.

Brad yanked open the car door, and had Leena help him haul Ben out of the now useless hunk of metal. They saw all of the Zoid Parts scattered about that were probably the cargo of the truck, but paid them no mind. Well, all except the Dibison cooling unit. And as for Ben? Well, he was in pretty bad shape.

He had a huge X-shaped gash in his chest, possibly several fractured ribs, and a cut across his left eye. He was battered and bruised, unconscious, and losing blood fast!

"Oh no, he's gonna bleed out at this rate!" Leena said in worry with a few tears in her eyes.

"We have to get him to the Hover Cargo, now!" Brad said.

The others nodded in agreement. Very carefully, Leon helped Brad pick up Ben and started to quickly move him to their transport. Leena was running alongside them while using some spare cloth she had to apply pressure to the wound on his chest. They didn't realize it just then, but this boy would soon be the saving grace of the Blitz Team and a valued friend of theirs.

A few hours later, Ben was in the med bay of the Hover Cargo sleeping peacefully after having received treatment for his more serious wounds. But the rest of the Blitz Team was gathered in the living room going over the plans for a rematch with the Tigers Team.

"We sure are lucky that the Zoid Battle Commision agreed to reschedule our match with the Tigers Team." Doctor Toros said.

"But even though they did, we can't go into battle with only two Zoids! And our hands are full with repairs to the Command Wolf and the Dibison." the fourth team member, a boy named Jamie, informed. "We're just lucky you came across that Dibison Cooling-Unit when you did! It's really helped speed along the repairs."

Doctor Steve Toros looked like he was contemplating something. Something that might help them with their match tomorrow.

"There's that Liger Zero…" Doc suggested.

"Forget it, dad. That Liger won't let anyone pilot it." Leena said.

"Not to mention it doesn't have any weapons that we know of." Brad added.

"Then I'll go in the Pteras." Leon said.

"That's a no-go, Leon! You have to stay here with dad to make sure that civilian from before heals." Leena reminded.

They looked to the security footage in the med bay to see the stranger groaning as he opened his eyes. The team got up, and moved to the medical bay to make sure that whoever that guy was would be okay.

* * *

 _ **Well, that's all I've got for now. But trust me when I say that next chapter will be better! And this is going to be the last story I post for at least another thirty days! Now, I plan to update this story a few more times before updating anything else, so bare with me for awhile, okay? But I need your help. Do you think I should use the Liger Zero's original three CAS Units, or should I make up my own? Let me know which you would prefer! REVIEW PLEASE! Flamers will be obliterated by the Deathsaur's Charged Particle Cannon!**_


	2. Chapter 2 (Corrected)

_**Wow! Look at all of these reviews I got for this story! I honestly thought I wouldn't get very many since this crossover is the first of its kind. But, I'm glad I did! Now, I posted a poll for what I should do about the CAS Units for the Liger Zero, so be sure to cast your votes! So without further ado, enjoy the newest chapter! Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, this story takes place after Alien Force and before Ultimate Alien. And Ben shall not have an Omnitrix.**_

 _ **Pairing: Ben T. x Leena T. x Pierce**_

 _ **If anyone has any suggestions for how I can get Pierce and Ben together, feel free to share your ideas with me.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids!**_

* * *

"..." = Talking

 _"Italics" = Thinking_

 **"Bold" = Yelling**

 **"Bold Underlined" = Judge Talking**

* * *

 _ **Liger Zero vs. The Tigers Team!**_

* * *

Ben groaned as he opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was pain and fire, and then... Bliss. He looked around to see that he was in some kind of hospital room, only it look a lot more inviting than those plain white rooms that smelled of antiseptic and bleach.

"Where am I...?" Ben asked himself.

He tried to get up, but winced as he felt intense pain from doing so. He moved the covers of the bed off of his body to see that he was just in a pair of warm up pants, and that his entire torso had been wrapped in white medical bandages. He felt the area over his left eye, and noticed that there was a soft pad covering it like an eye patch.

 _"That would explain my new lack of depth perception."_ Ben thought to himself.

He was broken from his thoughts when he heard the door to the room open. The entire Blitz Team entered, looking relieved that Ben was alive. Our hero got out of bed and entered a defensive stance. Even if he was badly hurt, if he was going down he'd be taking at least one of them with him! Leon saw this, and raised his hands in a non threatening manner.

"Whoa, easy there! We're not gonna hurt you." Leon said. "My name is Leon Toros, and this is my team, Brad Hunter, Jamie, my little sister Leena, and my dad doctor Steve Toros."

"Good to meet ya, sir! And I know this is rude, but I don't believe we ever caught your name." Doc said.

Ben relaxed his guard, but didn't drop it. Brad noticed this, and understood that this guy had every right to still be suspicious of them.

"I'm Ben. Ben Tennyson. I'm a Junk Dealer who travels the world in search of discarded Zoid Parts. I take them to Parts Dealers who buy them from me, and they in turn repair what they bought and turn them into working Zoid Parts." Ben explained.

He noticed that a couple members of the team looked nervous and slightly guilty about something. He narrowed his eyes as if asking "what did you do"?

"Eh-heh, heh... Well, we kinda helped ourselves to the Dibison Cooling Unit you had from the wreckage of your truck. Sorry..." Leena said, sheepishly.

Ben merely sighed and said "That's what I thought."

Ben sat back on the bed as he contemplated what to do now. Without his truck, he had no transport. And all of his wares have been lost in the battle, so how would he be able to make his living without anything to sell? But he suddenly remembered the battle with the Tigers Team, and instantly grew concerned for the Zoids that had fought in the battle.

"Hey, can I take a look at your Zoids? I just wanna make sure that the repairs are running smoothly." Ben asked.

The team didn't see a problem with letting him look at their Zoids, so they nodded in approval. Leena gave Ben a couple of crutches to help him walk since Ben wasn't up to a hundred percent just yet. It took a little longer than usual since Ben was moving slower than he normally would be, but the team finally got to the hangar for the Zoids.

Ben was impressed by the gear that they had. He didn't know that a team of Zoid warriors with primarily ground based Zoids would have an Aerial-Type Zoid like a Pteras. But Ben's eyes narrowed as he saw the damage done to the Dibison, the Command Wolf, and the Shield Liger. Those Tigers were brutal! Ben didn't understand why they would go as far as they did to defeat an enemy Zoid.

" _The armor on the Dibison did its job. It protected the more vital areas of the Zoid, and kept it from getting damaged any worse than it already is. And with that Cooling-Unit they managed to salvage, they should be battle ready by tomorrow. Same thing with the Command Wolf."_ Ben thought to himself.

But his eyes narrowed even further when they landed on the Shield Liger. Ever since the great wars that happened years ago, Liger-Type Zoids like the Shield Liger and the Blade Liger became very rare. If you owned one, you had to be either very rich or have repaired one from the ground up. Leon must be an incredible Zoid Warrior to be able to pilot a Zoid like this one.

"It's a shame that your Shield Liger ended up like this." Ben said, feeling guilty about his part in the Liger's destruction. "It must've been a top of the line model. And it's all my fault that it's like this now!"

"Hey, c'mon! Don't blame yourself, Ben! you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Leon said, placing a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Besides, we can still fix it up! Not sure how, but we can."

Suddenly, a new Zoid caught Ben's attention. It looked like some kind of Liger-Type Zoid, but Ben had never seen one like this.

It's body was streamlined, obviously built for speed and agility. It also had a mouth full of razor sharp golden teeth, gold colored paws and claws, and red colored eyes. It was covered in white armor that looked very strong, and also had some of that armor fanning out around the head to form a mane of some kind. On its legs were red knobs that looked like they were meant to aid with movement, and Ben recognized the hidden weapon that it had attached to its long tail. At the end of the tail was an AZ 108mm High-Density Beam Gun That looked perfect for surprise attacks.

"Hey, what kind of Liger is that one?" Ben asked. "I've seen plenty of different Liger-Type Zoids in my travels, and I've never encountered anything like this one."

"This one? We call it the Liger Zero." Leena answered.

The others had decided to turn in for the night, so it was just her and Ben who were in the Hangar at the time. Since Ben had asked about the Liger, she decided that she might as well answer his questions.

"Liger Zero, huh?" Ben asked.

"Some con man talked my dad into buying the thing. Dad fell for it because… White Ligers are rare. But so far, nobody's been able to pilot the thing." Leena explained.

"You mean no one knows how?" Ben asked.

Leena closed her eyes and shook her head no.

"It isn't that. It's that this Zoid acts like it has a mind of its own. It goes berserk as soon as somebody steps into the cockpit!" Leena said. "Well, it's getting late. You'll need to rest if you wanna be fully healed."

She put her hand on Ben's shoulder, and started to guide him to the door that led back to the base. Ben looked back at the Liger Zero and smiled at it. He knew only one thing about this Zoid. It's potential was being wasted just collecting dust in a place like this! It deserved to be out there fighting to its heart's content!

" _Liger Zero… Something tells me that you'd be an amazing Zoid, if you had the right partner. I doubt that would ever be me, but a guy can dream, right?"_ Ben thought to himself.

As he and Leena finally left the Hangar for the Zoids, the eyes of the Liger Zero began to glow. A faint roar reverberated throughout the room before everything went silent again.

* * *

 _ *****The Next Day*****_

* * *

The Hover Cargo was moving along to the Designated battlefield where the Blitz Team would have their rematch with the Tigers Team. Although the team would only be fighting using only two Zoids, they brought the Liger Zero along in case of an emergency.

When they arrived, they launched Leena in the Dibison, and Brad in the Command Wolf. At first things seemed to be on even grounds, as the enemy team had only two Saber Tigers on the battlefield. But the team still wasn't sure. Ben was watching the match from the Hover Cargo, having been deemed well enough to move about on his own.

"How're ya feeling, Ben?" Doc asked.

"Improved. I think that a little rest and a few pints of blood was all I needed to bounce back." Ben replied.

After the Judge started the battle, roaring could be heard coming from the Liger Zero. It seemed to be going a bit nuts for some reason Ben and Leon ran to the Hangar to check on the Liger, and saw that it was roaring while thrashing its head around like mad! And Ben seemed to know what was wrong. But before he could say anything, Jamie's voice sounded out over the intercom.

 **"Ben, Leon! Leena's been hit! A missile came out of nowhere and shot down Leena's Dibison!"** Jamie informed.

"WHAT?! BUT HOW?!" Leon asked.

"This has to be the Tigers Team's doing! They must've modified one of the Saber Tigers and stationed it far away so they could use it as a fixed weapon!" Ben suggested.

The Liger Zero growled gently and moved its head closer to where Ben was, and opened up the entrance to its cockpit. Ben and Leon were surprised by this. From what Ben understood, the Liger was still a wild Zoid, so it didn't want to be piloted. But Ben also understood that the team needed his help, and regardless of whether or not he was fully healed Ben was going to help them!

"Jamie, get ready to mobilize me and the Liger Zero!" Ben said after getting in and closing the cockpit.

Jamie wanted to argue, but he was stopped by Doc. The good doctor seemed to know what was at stake here in this battle, so he was willing to let the Liger Zero have a chance to fight against the Tigers. He readied the catapult of the Hover Cargo, and Ben grinned at the chance of his first Zoid Battle.

"Let's do it, partner!" Ben said to the Liger.

* * *

 _ *****Back on the Battlefield*****_

* * *

The leader of the Tigers Team and his partner were advancing their Sabers on the downed Dibison with sadistic grins on their faces. They were known for being ruthless on the battlefield, and Leena was looking pretty scared at what was possibly about to happen to her, until she heard a familiar voice and saw a certain Zoid land between her and the Saber Tigers.

 **"LEAVE HER ALONE!"** Ben yelled.

The Liger Zero landed between the two teams, and roared at the Tigers Team. The Tigers weren't happy about this, but Leena looked relieved that he was here.

"Ben? How did you…?" Leena tried to ask.

"I guess Liger Zero wanted me to pilot him. I decided to come out here and help you guys." Ben explained.

The Judge suddenly appeared on Ben's monitor, and began to speak with Ben.

 **"Registration of Liger Zero as Blitz Team Zoid has been confirmed. Warrior registration has not been received. Warrior, state your name."**

"Ben. Put me down as Ben Tennyson." Ben said.

 **"Registration of warrior Ben Tennyson has been accepted. Registration number is 777A09. Please input number in Zoid computer, at once."**

Ben did so immediately. The Liger opened up the Zoid Computer to reveal a blank Zoid Gear, and Ben input the number given to him by the Judge. The Tigers Team put up a fuss over how he was allowed to register mid battle, but the Judge shot them down by saying that the Liger Zero was preregistered so Ben was allowed to register.

Once registration was complete, Ben leapt over the two opposing Saber Tigers and shot at them using the tail mounted AZ 108mm High-Density Beam Gun. It wasn't enough to freeze their systems, but it did slow them down enough so he could put some distance between them. These actions surprised Leena and the others.

"Where are you going, Ben?!" Leena asked in worry.

"There's a third Saber Tiger farther out that's been equipped with a Long Range Rifle! I'm gonna take him down first!" Ben explained.

"What…?" Brad asked.

The third Saber Tiger was Firing at Ben like crazy. He was put into a panic when Ben had figured out his position, and couldn't believe he'd let himself be discovered so easily. Each shot he fired missed the Liger Zero by a mile, and Ben had the Liger jump into the air and pile drived the Saber Tiger to the ground before running off to fight the other two Saber Tigers.

There was a small explosion from the Saber Tiger, as its computer system froze.

"That'll teach 'em to play fair!" Ben said to himself.

"Ben, you've got enemies heading at you from the front!" Leena warned over the comm link.

Ben looked and saw the remaining two Saber Tigers shooting their armor piercing rounds at him. While none of them actually hit the Liger, the tremors from the blasts were enough to stall Ben.

"Our tail gun won't be much help in a situation like this. There's only one option left! **Run, Liger!"** Ben urged.

The Liger Zero started running full speed just as the Saber Tigers continued their vicious onslaught of cannon fire. Liger managed to run between the two Sabers, and skidded to a stop as it turned to face the enemy again. And Ben knew he had to figure something out to stop these guys.

"Man, how am I supposed to stop these guys without any weapons?!" Ben asked himself.

Suddenly, the Liger pulled up some statistics on one of its monitors. It showed an attack move that just might help the Blitz team to win this thing.

"That Strike Laser Claw thing might be a weapon…" Ben said to himself.

He didn't have any time to contemplate this anymore as the Liger Zero roared and charged at the Saber Tigers that had also charged again. Ben seemed to understand what it was that the Liger wanted to do. He grinned, and let the Liger take over.

"Alright, Liger. I'm leaving it to you!" Ben said.

Liger Zero roared and fanned out the sides of his mane which began to glow with a golden energy. This energy then started to build up in the Liger's forelegs as it began to pick up speed.

"Look, it's glowing!" said one of the Saber pilots.

Soon enough, the golden energy began to glow even brighter than before once it got to its claws. The liger jumped up and reared back its right paw as Ben shouted the name of what would soon become one of his signature attacks.

 **"Let's do it, Liger! STRIKE LASER CLAW!"** Ben yelled.

As the Liger came down, it slashed at the lead Saber Tiger with its glowing claws. The result was the right foreleg of the Saber Tiger being sliced clean off! It fell to the ground just as the Liger's forelegs and claws stopped glowing and it retracted the sides of its mane.

The remaining Saber wa going to try and avenge his fallen leader, but he was shot down by Brad's Command Wolf! With all three members of the Tigers Team shot down, the Judge called the match.

 **"The battle is over! The battle is over! The winner is… The Blitz Team!"**

"We did it!" Jamie cheered.

"We won the battle…!" Leena said in awe. "...ALRIGHT!"

 **"Blitz Team, congratulations on your win! Farewell! Until the next battle!"**

Having said his piece, the Judge capsule closed and the Judge flew back up to the Zoid Battle Commision satellite. Ben smiled in satisfaction of his first official Zoid Battle.

Later that day at Blitz Team HQ, Ben and Liger Zero were sitting outside watching the sunset. Ben looked back up at the Zoid with a sense of pride and admiration.

"You are one amazing Zoid, Liger Zero. But I'm a wanderer. I can't stay here anymore than I already have, being a burden to everyone." Ben said to the Liger.

"You're not a burden, Ben." Leon said as he and the team walked up to Ben.

"Before you came along, we were dangerously close to living in boxes for the rest of our lives! You just helped us win, and are the first person the Liger Zero has ever allowed to pilot it!" Leena said.

"Stay here, and become a permanent member of the Blitz Team! You could still do your Junk Dealer thing, but it'll be more like a side job." Doctor Toros explained. "So, what do you say?"

Ben looked very much surprised by the offer. But if he did this, he would at least have a permanent place to stay. He looked back up at the Liger Zero.

"Well, it's your call. What do you say, Liger?" Ben asked.

Liger Zero looked back down at Ben, and purred in agreement. Ben's smile grew bigger as he earned the Liger's acceptance as a teammate and partner.

"Cool! Then let's be partners, Liger Zero!" Ben said.

The Liger reared its head back and gave a loud roar as a new chronicle began for the Blitz Team, and for Ben Tennyson.

* * *

 _ **End Narration: Hey, Ben here! Hey Liger, we won the battle! ...What? You don't have any weapons other than your tail gun and Strike Laser Claw?! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO WIN THE NEXT BATTLE?! Next Time, on Ben 10: New Century Zero; The Red Comet Appears! Ready…? FIGHT!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Man am I glad to have gotten so many great reviews! And to guest reviewer Omnipotent 18, I watched a few episodes of Manyū Hiken-chō, and while I may not approve of some of the more suggestive themes of the anime I'm willing to give the story you suggested a chance. But that won't be posted until after a month from today. Anyways, here's the current result of the poll. Once I post the next chapter, voting stops.**_

 _ **Make My Own: 11 votes**_

 _ **Original (Jager, Schneider, Panzer): 4 votes**_

 _ **Also, I REALLY need help with scenarios on how Ben and Pierce can get together! SO PLEASE HELP ME WITH THAT!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids!**_

* * *

"..." = Talking

 _"Italics" = Thinking_

 **"Bold" = Yelling**

 **"Bold Underlined" = Judge Talking**

* * *

 **Organized under strict rules and regulations,**

 **Zoid Battles are fighting competitions held on enormous battlefields,**

 **Using mechanical combat units known as Zoids!**

 **The enthusiast young warriors put their pride on the line,**

 **And sharpen their skills against one another!**

 **Battle Mode approved!**

 **Area scanned!**

 **Battlefield, set up!**

 **Ready...?**

 **FIGHT!**

* * *

 _ **The Red Comet Appears!**_

* * *

"Okay, Ben. We're ready on our end!" Jamie said over the comm link.

Out in the desert, the Blitz Team was running a few tests on the Liger Zero in order to see what it was capable of. Ben was in the Liger Zero's cockpit and the two of them were ready to show the entire team just what the Liger Zero could do!

Ben had also undergone a wardrobe change. His hair had remained the same, but he now wore a pair of black cargo pants, green combat boots, and a pair of green gloves. He no longer wears a shirt which shows off the jagged X shaped scar on his upper body, as well as his well muscled physique.

Ben had a six pack of abs and fully developed pecs that were lean and toned like those of an olympic runner, and his biceps and triceps had also been fully developed due to his former life of fighting alien criminals. Unfortunately, Ben was now blind in his left eye, so he now wears a white eye patch that had a stripe of black, purple, and gold in the form of claw marks over his left eye.

"Roger that, Jamie. Let's show them what you're made of, Liger!" Ben said.

Ben pushed forward on the Liger's control rods, hit the gas, and the Liger Zero shot off like a rocket at top running speed. It was astounding to say the least. Liger was moving at speeds that would make even the fastest Shield Liger green with envy, and Ben was grinning like a madman from such abilities!

"So far so good. What do ya say, Liger? Wanna use the Ion Boosters?" Ben asked.

Liger roared in approval. He wanted to show off his true potential to the rest of the team, and knew that Ben was the only one who would be able to pull it off.

"Alright, then! Activating Ion Boosters… Now!" Ben said.

He pushed a button which made the boosters on the Liger Zero's back pop out while a pair of Downforce Stabilizers popped out of the sides of the Liger. The Ion Boosters roared to life as the liger reached top speed in less than three seconds! Ben grunted as the G-Forces pushed him back into his seat.

Back in the Hover Cargo, doctor Toros and the rest of the team were very impressed by what they were seeing on the scans.

"This is amazing! Liger Zero has already clocked in at a top speed of over two hundred miles per hour!" Jamie said in amazement.

"Yeah, and I can see how. It's because of the Downforce Stabilizers on the sides of the Zoid. These help the focus one hundred percent of the Liger Zero's kick power to the ground, making it possible to achieve that level of speed!" Doc explained.

"Wow, now I'm really regretting letting that Zoid just sit in the Hangar collecting dust!" Leena said.

"Yeah, but aside from its speed it's only got one weapon. So its still pretty much a useless Zoid." Brad said more to himself than the others.

This earned him a big time glare from Leena. However, Leon was actually looking like he was contemplating something about the Liger. He knew that just because all the Liger Zero had was its Strike Laser Claw and High-Density Beam Gun didn't mean it was useless. It just meant that the Liger Zero had a clean slate to unlock its true potential!

"Okay, Ben. We're done for the day. Bring it in!" Doc ordered over the comm link.

"Got it!" Ben responded.

He turned off the Ion Boosters, and slowly eased Liger Zero into a walk before coming to a complete stop. Liger roared in happiness at finally being able to stretch his legs after so long, and to finally have a partner in Ben.

"You are an amazing Zoid, Liger! I just wish you had more than one weapon that we could work with." Ben said.

Liger Zero growled softly as if agreeing with Ben. It wanted a more diverse arsenal too, and saw that there were a few different weapons that could possibly be a great help on the battlefield.

"Yeah, I know how you feel buddy. What do you think of a Long Range Buster Cannon?" Ben asked.

Liger growled a bit and moved one paw in a so-so motion. He didn't really like the idea of heavy weaponry being attached to him, and wasn't so sure how that would affect his speed. But if the need for heavy weapons did rise up, he would use it for the good of the team.

Later that day, the team was assembled in the meeting room waiting for doctor Toros to arrive. He had received a call from the Zoid Battle Commission, and was taking a while to get back. Ben was really starting to get impatient here. Finally, doctor Toros walked in holding a slip of paper.

"Hey, team! Glad you all could be here! We just got word of our next battle." Doc explained.

"Cool! So, who're we up against?" Jamie asked.

"It says here the Fluegels. We'll be going up against this warrior who has a well known reputation for having never lost a single battle thus far in her career." Doc said.

Brad let out a low whistle, showing that he was impressed. Heck, the whole team was impressed by this information. However, Ben was still a bit skeptical about her rep.

"She's never lost ONCE?" Ben asked. "I find that very hard to believe."

"Well believe it or not, we still have to battle her." said Jamie. "So, what're the rules for the battle?"

"I'm glad you asked! We'll be battling using three Zoids against three Zoids while each Zoid has a shot limit of six." Doc explained.

Ben rose an eyebrow at these rules. He was familiar with just about every Battle Mode in the Zoid Battle Commission, and this was no different.

" _0988..."_ Ben thought to himself.

"So it's basically just an old western showdown. Well if that's the case, I'm gonna go into town and speak to a Parts Dealer I know and get the parts I need for a new weapon for the Liger Zero. I plan on entering that battle, and no one better tell me otherwise!" Ben said as he walked out the door.

The rest of the team looked where Ben was standing with wide eyes and open mouths. They had no idea that Ben could be so territorial when it came to things like battles. But they assumed that Ben was just trying to prove himself to the team since he was the new guy around there.

"Well, I can see that Ben is definitely gonna try and fight in this battle. But Jamie, prep the Pteras just to be on the safe side." Doc ordered.

* * *

 _ *****At a Zoid Parts Shop in Town*****_

* * *

It was late at night when Ben finally got to the shop he mentioned. Since he didn't have his old truck anymore, he had to walk. Ben wanted Liger Zero to rest up for the battle that was gonna happen the next day, so he didn't bring him along.

"Hey, old timer! You still here? Hello?" Ben called.

"Whoever you are, beat it! The store's closed until tomorrow!" replied a gruff voice.

A man who looked to be in his late fifties with a bushy white beard, hazel colored eyes, and pale skin walked out of the shadows. He was wearing a red T-shirt, a pair of denim overalls, and a pair of brown shoes. His eyes widened and a grin made its way to the man's face when he saw who was calling for him.

"Well, well, if it ain't my favorite Junk Dealer! How ya been, Ben?" asked the man.

"Pretty good, Charlie. But I'm afraid this may be the last you'll see of the parts I bring in. I finally got myself a Zoid, and joined a team!" Ben said.

"Good for you, Ben! Shame that we won't be doing much business anymore, but I wish you good luck in the battles to come." Charlie said.

"Oh, speaking of battles…"

Ben reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a list of parts for the weapon he needed for the Liger Zero. He handed it to Charlie, and started to explain the situation.

"I've got a battle coming up tomorrow, and I need to cash in that favor you owe me. Think I can get everything on that list?" Ben asked.

Charlie hummed as he looked over the list.

"Well, your tab covers all of this, but why is it all so light? You got a lightweight, or something?" Charlie asked.

"No way! He can handle the heavier gear, but I don't wanna have to sacrifice any speed in this particular battle." Ben explained. "So, do you have it all?"

"Oh, sure. I got everything you need for this weapon. But the barrel itself is in pieces, so you'll have to assemble it yourself. But don't worry, those things may look like a mess but they fit together real good!" Charlie explained.

"Thanks, Charlie. And I think I'll just go ahead and take the easy way this time." Ben said.

While Charlie loaded up the bigger stuff into a delivery truck, Ben carried the gun barrel pieces out one by one through the restaurant that was connected to the shop. As Ben was going about his business, he noticed something that made his blood boil.

Two sleazy looking men were harassing a woman who Ben recognized as Naomi Fluegel. He hated things like perverts, rapists, and child molesters, and was seeing red from these guy's actions!

" _It's men like these guys that make the rest of us look bad!"_ Ben thought to himself.

He kept walking towards where Naomi and those goons, and decided to play ignorant.

"Man, I could use a drink." Ben said to himself. "'Scuse me, sir."

The man cried out in pain when Ben "accidentally" stepped on his foot. The man told Ben to watch where he was going, but Ben "dropped something" and bent down to get it. This caused the piece of the gun barrel he was holding to hit the offender in the chin which sent him to the floor out cold. When Ben got up, the other guy who was making a grab for him missed, and got hit in the back of the head with the metal pipe which in turn knocked him out cold. Ben saw this, and continued to act ignorant.

"Huh? Now what's his problem?" Ben asked "innocently".

Naomi saw the whole thing and knew that it was no accident.

" _Did he really do all of that on purpose?"_ Naomi thought to herself.

"Hey, are you okay? Ben asked.

He had just now gotten a good look at Naomi. She was a beautiful woman with porcelain skin, purple eyes, and red hair that fell past her shoulders and spiked up at the ends in the back. Her outfit was kinda like a western cowgirl. She wore a red and orange outfit with green details that revealed her stomach, arms, and hips. She wore orange gloves and long red boots in the same color as the rest of her outfit. Naomi also had a green gem in her hair above her left eye, and red "rings" around her arms.

Overall, she just seemed to have this air about her that screamed sheriff. But her personality seemed to be that of a loner.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the assist, but I could've taken care of those clowns no problem." Naomi said with a smile.

Ben smiled back at her before sitting down at her table with her, and ordering himself a drink.

"I have no doubts that the Red Comet could handle a couple of goons like them. But I just hate to see men like them ganging up on a woman like that. Regardless of whether they're a pilot or not!" Ben explained.

Naomi's eyes widened slightly when she heard Ben say her Zoid Pilot alias. But she quickly composed herself and joined back into the conversation.

"Nice to know my reputation precedes me. How'd you figure it out?" Naomi asked.

"Red hair, red clothing, dresses like a cowgirl. Really, the signs weren't that hard to miss." Ben said.

Ben downed his drink, and paid his check before getting up and picking up his supplies. But before he could leave, Naomi stopped him.

"Hey, what's your name? Mine's Naomi Fluegel."

"Ben Tennyson's the name. Hope to meet on the battlefield one day!"

Ben finally managed to get everything loaded up into the truck that Charlie had been kind enough to provide, he drove off back to the Blitz Team HQ. It was a lot quicker than walking, that's for sure. Ben managed to get everything unloaded, and sighed in satisfaction at what looked like a difficult build. But then again, Ben loved a good challenge!

Liger Zero moved its head closer to the cannon, and growled in curiosity. Ben seemed to know what the Liger was thinking, and pat his snout gently.

"I know it's not much to look at right now, partner. But just you wait! I want you to watch as I put your new weapon together piece by piece!" Ben said.

Working late into the night, Ben assembled the gun at a slow and careful pace. He started with the smaller parts and the circuitry since those were the hardest parts to work with. Ben learned the hard way that you should always work with the hardest stuff first, and work your way to the easy things. The noise didn't really disturb the team. Most of them were either very heavy sleepers, or already awake.

Finally, Ben got to the gun barrel. Turns out that Charlie was right about those pieces. They fit together like a dream. But he was now struggling to lower the rifle onto the Liger's back so he could mount it there for the battle.

"Grrn… Man, I could sure use some help…" Ben said to himself.

He felt the rope go a bit slack, and turned his head to see Leon and Leena there holding the rope.

"Need a hand?" Leon asked.

"How about two?" Leena added.

"Thanks, guys! I really appreciate it!" Ben said.

Despite there now being three people working with the rifle, they were still struggling with the darn thing. It did weigh more than a ton, after all. Leena grunted as a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Hrrg… You know, you could always just use the systems in the Hover Cargo to do this… It'd save you a lot of time… and a whole mess of backaches!" Leena implied.

"Yeah, well… A bit of hard work is good for ya…" Ben replied.

They finally managed to get the rifle onto the Liger's back, and Ben fell to one knee as he clutched his chest in pain. Leena immediately went to help Ben up, and slung one of his arms over her shoulder.

"Are you okay, Ben?" Leena asked in worry.

Her hand was subconsciously tracing a bit of the scar that was on Ben's upper body as she helped him get his balance back. Leon noticed this, but didn't say anything.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I guess I just need to not overdo it for awhile." Ben replied.

While Leena had Ben rest for a bit, Leon decided to do the anchoring of the rifle to Liger Zero's back. While he was working, a question suddenly came to mind that had been bugging him ever since Ben became a part of the Blitz Team.

"Hey, Ben. You were a Junk Dealer before you joined the team, but you seem to have a real knack for piloting Zoids. Why is that?" Leon asked.

"My thoughts exactly, bro." Leena added.

Ben took a moment to collect his thoughts. He had honestly hoped that no one would ask that question, but he didn't want to leave them in the dark. So, he decided to come clean, and tell them a bit about his past.

"Well you see, I've always had this dream. I was going to save up a lot of money and buy the best Zoid I could get! But I didn't want one of those standard off-the-shelf models that they sell in stores. I wanted a partner. A Zoid that was as alive as I am!" Ben explained.

"What do you mean alive? Zoids are just big robots, aren't they?" Leena asked.

Ben shook his head and chuckled at Leena's naivete. It was almost insulting to the Zoids, were it not so funny. But Ben knew better than to leave anyone in the dark about anything, so he continued to explain.

"No, Leena. Every Zoid has a soul that can be awakened if the right conditions are met. But the Zoids that are manufactured often have a hard time awakening their souls." Ben explained.

Leon jumped down from the Liger Zero's back, and walked over to the two. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and yawned slightly.

"Well, that should do it." Leon said. "You're good to go for the battle tomorrow."

"Thanks guys!" Ben said.

He looked up at Liger Zero and surveyed his handiwork. The gun was an old one that was used by Command Wolves in the old war between the Helic Republic, and the Zenebas Empire. It had quite a bit of power to it, but was also kind of hard to calibrate. Ben knew it wasn't the ideal weapon for his Liger Zero, but he figured he could give it to Brad after they beat Naomi.

"What do ya think, Liger? That feel good?" Ben asked.

The Liger roared in disagreement. He shifted his back as the cannon felt awkward, and heavy even though it was light in weight. Ben frowned at this, but he could understand where the Liger was coming from.

"Yeah, it does seem a bit awkward." Ben said before smiling at his Zoid. "Just stick with it for now, at least."

"You sure have a way of understanding what your Liger is saying." Leon said.

Ben would've answered him, but he let out a massive yawn and rubbed his eyes. He'd been up until at least three in the morning, and felt like he could collapse at any minute.

"We'll talk about this another time, Leon. Right now, I just wanna get some sleep before the battle." Ben said, rubbing his eyes.

"Alright then. Goodnight." Leon said.

All three of them went to their rooms to try and get some sleep, knowing full well the challenges that would be coming about in the morning. One thing was certain, things were going to be a lot more interesting than before.

* * *

 _ *****The Next Day; At the Battlefield*****_

* * *

The Blitz Team had just made it to the battlefield where they would be fighting Naomi, and the Command Wolf and Dibison were already out. The area was a forest with a small clearing where the two teams met and the Judge Capsule would be landing at soon. They saw exactly what they were up against, and grew a bit worried about the competition.

They were facing three Velociraptor-type Zoids known as Gun Snipers. They looked like giant mechanical Velociraptors, only their tails concealed very powerful sniper rifles that really packed a punch! They were also equipped with Dual Missile Pods on their backs, and handguns that had three barrels attached to their hands. And where the eyes would be, there was instead an orange visor. Two of these Gun Snipers were a light blue and lavender purple color scheme, but Naomi's Gun Sniper was completely red.

The Judge Capsule had finally landed just in time to get the battle under way.

 **"Area scanned… Battlefield, set up! The Blitz Team vs. the Fluegel Team!"**

"So are you only going to battle with only two Zoids, or do you have some sort of trick up your sleeve?" Naomi asked/taunted.

" _That's what she thinks!"_ Leena thought to herself.

"Nope! No tricks here!"

Brad and Leena looked over to their side, and saw Ben and Liger Zero standing on a nearby hill. They looked totally pumped, and ready for a gun fight!

"We've just got three honorable warriors!" Ben said.

A hologram of Brad and Leena's faces appeared on the Liger's comm system. Brad didn't look too happy, but Leena looked ready to help Ben out in any way she could.

"What do you think you're doing here, Ben?!" Brad asked.

"I installed a Long Range Cannon on the Liger Zero last night, with Leena and Leon's help. Now you don't have to use any unhonorable tactics!" Ben explained.

"We've got this in the bag with you here, Ben!" Leena said.

Back in the Hover Cargo, doctor toros was having a bit of a meltdown. He hadn't counted on Ben equipping such a weapon to his Zoid, but he really wanted to use the Pteras in this battle. So he started trying to get Jamie to launch so he could return Ben.

"Jamie, Ben's out there! Hurry up and launch the Pteras!" Doc ordered.

"I would if I could, Doc!" Jamie said. "The catapult for the Hover Cargo isn't functioning!"

 **"WHAT?!"** Doc asked in worry.

"Something's wrong with the circuitry!" Jamie said.

Back in the viewing room of the Hover Cargo, Leon was actually holding the component that helped the Hover Cargo's catapult work. He didn't want anyone to disturb the battle, and intended to let Ben show to the others that he had what it took to be a great pilot.

Meanwhile, Naomi's eyes widened in recognition of who had just spoke.

"That voice…! Isn't that…?" Naomi asked herself.

Ben's face appeared on her monitor, and he didn't even look remotely surprised to see who he was up against.

"Hey! May the best pilot win." Ben said.

Naomi smiled at this show of good sportsmanship. That was a rare trait to find in Zoid pilots these days, but it was a respectable quality.

"Go easy on me, kid." Naomi replied.

 **"Battle Mode 0988. Ready…? FIGHT!"**

While the other two Gun Snipers ran for the forest, Naomi started climbing the wall of the cliff to get a better vantage point. Brad didn't want to let her gain the advantage in this battle, so he had Leena strike. Leena fired four blasts from her Widespread Cannon, but every shot missed its mark. Brad got after Leena for wasting ammo, and a small argument broke out between them.

Meanwhile, Naomi had gotten to her vantage point at the edge of the cliff. She pushed a few buttons, and the chair in her cockpit flattened out before rotating to a special cockpit that was meant to work with her Sniper Rifle. Her Gun Sniper turned around, flattened out its tail, and anchored itself to the ground with its large toe claws.

Meanwhile, Ben and the Liger Zero were still on that hill they appeared on, and were ready to use their new cannon. Ben's targeter was locked onto the Gun Sniper, and Ben fired his first round! The shot was unsuccessful, however, as it missed Naomi by mere inches.

"Oh, man. Looks like I could use a little target practice." Ben said to himself.

He pulled the trigger two more times, and fired two more shots. Like the first one, these two bullets missed with one of them clipping a bit of armor on the Gun Sniper. Ben grinned as an idea came to mind. He fired his last three shots which all hit the cliff. It looked like he missed, but in reality the cliff just under Naomi was where Ben was aiming for.

"...I've seen bad shots before, but you take the cake." Naomi said.

Back in the Hover Cargo, Leon and doctor Toros were in slight shock at what they were seeing here. Ben went to all the trouble of getting a new weapon, and he just wastes his six shots? Something seemed a bit off about this.

"Now we're in trouble! Didn't Ben just use all six shots just now?" Leon asked.

"...Oh no. We're doomed!" Doc said before he started crying dramatically.

Liger Zero roared and shifted his back to show how uncomfortable he was with this particular gun that was mounted to his back. He wanted it off, and he wanted it off now!

"Alright, alright, I hear ya Liger! You're tired of carrying around that awkward gun I installed. Well, let's just jettison the thing!" Ben said.

The gun popped out of Liger Zero's back, releasing a burst of pressurized air as it did. The Liger purred in satisfaction as he could move normally once again. Ben understood how the Liger was feeling.

"Bet that feels better." Ben said.

Leena and Brad ran into the forest to try and take out the other two Gun Snipers, while Ben charged in to try and get to Naomi. He knew that close combat against an experienced sniper like Naomi was a long shot, but he also knew that it was his best bet! He kept running while having the Liger Zero zig zag across the clearing in an attempt to throw off Naomi's aim, then heard the first shot and its result.

 **"NO! My computer's frozen AGAIN?! And I've got two shots to use up still! UGH!"** Leena groaned.

" _Okay, looks like Leena's out. I just hope Brad doesn't-"_

Ben was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard Brad on the comm link.

"DAMN! How could I let myself get pushed around?!" Brad asked himself.

"Okay, Brad's down too! Let's kick it into high gear, Liger!" Ben said.

He increased the Liger Zero's speed until he was going as fast as he could without Ion Boosters. He was still swerving all over the place, and Naomi was having a very hard time getting a lock on him with her Sniper Rifle.

"I've never seen a Zoid move with that kind of speed!" Naomi said to herself. "Hm, too bad!"

She moved her Gun Sniper a bit to try and gain a better vantage point, but this proved to be a crucial error on her part. The ground had suddenly collapsed from under her, and she started to fall!

 **"WHAT HAPPENED?!"** Naomi asked in shock.

Then she remembered those last three shots that Ben had fired at the ground beneath her. They must've weakened the structural integrity of the cliff enough so that if she moved, it would've collapsed!

" _Wait! Did he fire all six shots to trap me like this ON PURPOSE?!"_ Naomi thought to herself.

Her Zoid landed on its side as Ben drew closer and closer to the Gun Sniper. Just like last time, Liger Zero began to glow as he powered up his greatest attack. Ben called it out just like he did against the Tigers Team in his first battle.

 **"Let's finish this, Liger! Strike Laser Claw!"** Ben called.

Naomi wasn't going to make it easy for him, and fired a last shot in desperation. But the Liger Zero surprised them all by doing something that no ordinary Zoid should be capable of. It jumped over Naomi's bullet!

 **"He jumped over it!"** Naomi said in shock.

"Smooth move, Liger!" Ben said.

Gravity aided Ben and Liger's final attack as they managed to slice of one of Naomi's Gun Sniper's arms and a Missile Pod! Her Zoid fell to the ground as its computer system froze. Once Liger Zero stopped his attack, the Judge sounded the end of the battle.

 **"THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE WINNER IS… THE BLITZ TEAM!"**

The whole team began to celebrate their win, but Brad was steaming over the rookie having won the match for them. He thought the whole thing was a fluke, while Leon decided to go out and see the world for awhile. Naomi had stepped out of her Zoid, and was looking at Ben and the Liger in a bit of awe.

"Maybe it was a fluke… But any way you look at it, that's the first time anyone has ever dodged MY bullet!" Naomi said to herself.

* * *

 _ **Ending Narration (Leena): Ben's next opponent is some guy who says he's destined to be a king. The two warriors risk it all to fight over… ME! *sigh* What's a popular girl like me to do?**_

 _ **...WHAT'D YOU SAY?! I'm USING them?! How RUDE! I'm not to blame! I'm just a victim of my own charm, and beauty! Next time on Ben 10: New Century Zero; The Prince Arrives! Harry Champ! Ready…? FIGHT!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Okay everyone, it looks like a landslide victory. I'll be creating my own CAS Units for the Liger Zero! I'd ask for help with this, but I'd rather do it myself and let my imagination roam free! But now, let's see just what challenges await in this chapter! I hope you enjoy it! Also, if you find any sentences that have the name Danny instead of Ben in them, please let me know where in the chapter it is so I can fix that.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids!**_

* * *

"..." = Talking

 _"Italics" = Thinking_

 **"Bold" = Yelling**

 **"Bold Underlined" = Judge Talking**

* * *

 **Organized under strict rules and regulations,**

 **Zoid Battles are fighting competitions held on enormous battlefields,**

 **Using mechanical combat units known as Zoids!**

 **The enthusiast young warriors put their pride on the line,**

 **And sharpen their skills against one another!**

 **Battle Mode approved!**

 **Area scanned!**

 **Battlefield, set up!**

 **Ready...?**

 **FIGHT!**

* * *

 _ **The Prince Arrives! Harry Champ!**_

* * *

In a dark room, gunfire sounded loud enough for many people to hear. A single pilot with his best Zoid was shooting at enemy Velociraptor Type Zoids in a pitch black room in order to simulate his favorite Battle Mode. Blind battles.

His Zoid was built tough, and was easily taking down his enemies with no trouble at all! He took down the last of them with the Gatling Gun mounted on the back of his Zoid. The lights turned back on to reveal that the piloted Zoid hadn't taken so much as a scratch of damage from his training session. The final raptor Zoid hit the ground smoking and sparking just like its brethren.

"That completes the live ammunition training. All Rev Raptors destroyed. Perfect, Harry!" said a robotic voice.

The cockpit of Harry's Zoid opened up to reveal a pilot that was male and looked to be around the same age as Ben. Maybe a year older. He had an arrogant air about him, and his aura screamed rich boy. He looked pretty smug from his little accomplishment during this training session.

 _"My name's Harry Champ. I'm a man destined to be king!"_ Harry thought to himself.

He opened his eyes, and looked at a wallet sized picture of Leena that was taped to the inside of his Zoid's cockpit. He seemed to be infatuated with the girl, but don't ask me why.

Speaking of Leena...

 **"Alright, Brad! Here I go!"** Leena yelled.

"He's starting to panic!" Brad said in response.

The team was currently in a Zoid Battle with a team that was comprised of two Panther Type Zoids called Hellcats, and a Saber Tiger. No one on their team had been hit yet, but things were starting to get a little hectic. One of the Hellcats charged at Brad and fired.

Both shots from his gun missed, and Brad smirked. He sure was glad that Ben had given him that long range cannon from the old war that he used against the Fluegel Team. Since it had a turning mount, he would have an easier time going after more mobile opponents.

"Take this!" Brad said.

He fired a couple of shots from his new cannon. They both hit their mark, and sent the Hellcat to the ground with its computer system frozen. Ben was overseeing the battle, waiting for the right moment to strike. He knew that this team might try something cowardly, and he was right.

While Leena was distracted by the oncoming Saber Tiger, the Hellcat shot at Leena with powerful laser fire! The Saber Tiger joined in, shelling the poor Dibison with a combination of its back mounted weaponry, and the Triple Barrel Shock Cannon! Leena couldn't even move out of the way from so much heavy fire! Ben was about to charge in and help her, but the Liger beat him to the punch!

"LIGER, WHAT'RE YOU DOING?! I WANNA HELP LEENA TOO, BUT YOU CAN'T DO THIS ALONE!" Ben said, trying to regain control of the Liger Zero.

But the Liger wasn't listening. He was too concerned about the wellbeing of Ben's "mate", and was rushing in to try and divert the Zoid's attention away from the Dibison. It worked as the Liger Zero bit down on the Hellcat to keep it from firing any more at Leena. However, the Saber Tiger kept firing, and the Dibison was on its last legs!

Leena grunted as her Zoid continued to tank the heavy fire of the Saber Tiger. She knew that if she didn't do something soon, her Dibison would be defeated and she'd probably die! So she aimed her Widespread Cannon at the Saber Tiger, and locked on. She prepared to fire her last attack with the Dibison, for she knew it would most likely not survive this battle.

"Alright… If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me! **BURNOUT!"** Leena roared.

The Dibison fired all of its cannon's ammo in one massive attack that the Saber Tiger couldn't hope to dodge. The attack hit home, both totalling the Saber Tiger, and freezing its computer system!

 **"THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE WINNER IS… THE BLITZ TEAM!"**

It was another win for the Blitz Team… But at a terrible price. The once proud and mighty Dibison would not live to fight another day. And the team knew it.

Meanwhile, Harry watched the whole battle from afar. He knew that Leena would be okay since the Dibison had such powerful armor that was meant to protect both the pilot and the Zoid, but even he could tell that restoring the Zoid to its former glory would be next to impossible. Harry removed his binoculars, and smirked at the screen.

" _My name's Harry Champ. I'm a man destined to be king!"_ Harry said to the audience in his head.

That's when he suddenly noticed a very crucial fact. It was the fact that some other guy, namely Ben, appeared to be hitting on Leena!

"Hold the train, who is that guy? And what's he doing with MY Leena?!" Harry asked himself.

Back with the Blitz Team, Ben was comforting Leena as she mourned her destroyed Zoid. That Hellcat and that Saber Tiger were ruthless! Absolutely ruthless! They didn't need to go as far as they did! Ben would definitely be demanding some form of compensation for what they did to Leena's Dibison.

* * *

 _ *****Back at Blitz Team HQ*****_

* * *

Ben had just finished mounting the Liger Zero's new weapon to its belly. It was the Triple Barrel Shock Cannon that used to belong to the enemy Saber Tiger. Only, it now only had two gun barrels instead of three.

"There! At least the enemy team agreed to turn over one of their weapons as compensation. One of the gun barrels was cracked so I worked around it, and redid the armor. A lightweight weapon that's perfect for Liger Zero!" Ben said to himself.

Ben's thoughts were broken when he heard quiet sobs. He looked to his right to see that Leena was still crying over her destroyed Dibison. He took a moment to fully take in the damage done to her poor Zoid.

It was nearly unrecognizable. The horns had been blasted off of its head, it's Widespread Cannon looked like it had definitely seen better days, and most of the armor was now nothing more that shrapnel! It looked like a few internal parts had managed to survive, but other than that the Debison would never be restored to its former glory.

Ben walked over to Leena, and wrapped an arm around her. She jumped at the sudden touch, but didn't fight him off. She just looked down in sorrow over her poor Zoid.

"Are you gonna be okay, Leena?" Ben asked.

"*Sniffle* I don't know, Ben. ...I just don't know…" Leena replied.

"Don't worry, Leena. I swear, if it kills me, I'm going to help you find a new Zoid that'll be just as good if not better than your Dibison! And we'll avenge your Zoid!" Ben declared.

Leena looked at Ben with big, teary eyes. She could tell that he wasn't lying, and was happy to have a friend like him. But she wanted him to be something… More to her. So, she just acted on instinct. Leena rose up to her tiptoes, closed her eyes, and kissed Ben right on the lips.

Ben's eyes widened in shocked surprise. He knew that Leena liked him as a friend, but he had no idea that she liked him in a romantic sense! Ben soon closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around Leena's waist, and began to kiss back. Leena moaned slightly as she felt Ben kiss back, and took the initiative to deepen the kiss. The two teen's tongues were soon battling for dominance in this passionate and love filled kiss.

Ben had honsetly never experienced anything like this. Not even with his ex girlfriend, Julie! Ben didn't understand why, but something in his mind and heart clicked into place as he allowed Leena to explore his mouth.

Brad, Jamie, and doctor Toros, who were watching from afar, had varying reactions to what was happening right now. Jamie was wide eyed and open mouthed, Brad looked indifferent but was silently happy for his teammates, and doctor Toros looked like he needed to have a talk with Ben later. But for now, he decided to let the two of them have their moment.

This kiss lasted for about two minutes before Ben and Leena parted for air. They were panting slightly from the kiss, and had a couple of goofy grins on their faces.

"Wow… So, I guess this makes us a couple, right?" Ben asked.

 **"NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!"**

Ben and Leena stepped out of the way just in time for Harry to land on the ground right on his knee. Hard. His eyes bugged out, and he started wriggling around on the ground nursing his hurt knee.

" _What the hell was that all about?"_ Ben thought to himself.

After pulling through the pain, Harry got back up and glared at Ben.

"THANKS A LOT! If you hadn't moved just then, YOU'D be in pain!" Harry said in anger.

"You must be pretty stupid if you think I'd just let you hit me like that." Ben replied.

Ben took a moment to take in Harry's overall appearance. He had pale skin, green eyes, and brown hair that was spiked up at the sides. His clothing consists of a yellow jacket over a green and blue shirt, and brown pants. His jacket had red cloths hanging from behind his elbows, and pink fur details around his shoulders and waist that seemed to connect at the back.

" _This guy seems to be a pompous, rich geek. Reminds me of a certain someone from my past whom I shall not mention."_ Ben thought to himself.

" _Harry? Wait, this should be good!"_ Leena thought to herself with a small grin.

 **"Don't try to change the subject! Answer me! Just what do you think you're doing kissing MY Leena?!"** Harry asked in rage.

"Oh, we are very close, you know? Can't get much tighter than this!" Leena said while glomping Ben. "Isn't that right, Ben sweetie?"

Harry gasped in shock and outrage. He turned whiter than a sheet and just stood there with a stupid look on his face as he tried to comprehend the impossibility that Leena was dating someone other than himself. Ben took Leena's hand, and lead her outside. He figured that a nice walk would probably help her take her eyes off of the loss of her Dibison.

It was getting late as Leena and Ben made it to a nice desert clearing to just look up at Planet Zi's moons. It was a little colder than normal out there, so Ben had given Leena his jacket to wear. They just sat there enjoying each other's company, when they heard what sounded like Zoid footsteps. Ben and Leena turned around, thinking that it was Brad or Jamie had been sent by Leena's father to check on them. What they saw instead was something else entirely!

It was a huge Zoid that looked like a mechanical dinosaur known as Stegosaurus. It's body was a goldenrod yellow color with purple plates along its back, purple tail spikes, and the knobs on its body along with its canopy where a light blue color. This Zoid was a Gordos. However, the only weaponry it had on it was the 105mm High Speed Railguns on its back.

"Hey, that's a Gordos! But I've never seen one of that coloration before." Ben said.

Leena took a closer look at the Gordos and noticed a key factor that Ben missed out on. And it had to do with something that wasn't there.

"Hey, Ben! There's no pilot!" Leena said.

Ben took a closer look and saw that Leena was right! Behind the canopy of that Gordos, there was no pilot! That could only mean one thing.

"If that's the case, then this Gordos must be a wild Zoid. One of the very few that still roam the planet!" Ben said in awe.

The Gordos did nothing for awhile. It just kept staring at Leena with that big, empty canopy. The canopy began to glow a light blue color as it lightly growled, and moved closer to Leena. The girl yelped as this action from a wild Zoid scared her a bit. But instead of attacking like Leena thought it would, the Gordos merely moved its head down lower to her level.

It opened the canopy to reveal the interior of the Cockpit, surprising Leena and Ben even more than they already were.

"What does it want?" Leena asked Ben.

Ben carefully observed the Gordos. It let out a low growl as it seemed to be waiting for something. Ben realized what it was that this Zoid wanted.

"Leena… I think this Gordos wants you to pilot it!" Ben said.

"Really?" Leena asked the Zoid. "You want me?"

To prove its point, the Gordos lowered its head a little more to give Leena easier access to the cockpit. Hesitantly, Leena started to climb into the Zoid's cockpit with Ben. Ben took the back seat while Leena would be the one piloting. The seatbelts were lowered as the Gordos closed the canopy and raised its head. It roared in joy at having found its partner, and Leena began to pilot the Gordos back to the base! Boy, are the others in for a surprise!

* * *

 _ *****The Next Day*****_

* * *

Sure enough, the others were indeed surprised by the fact that Leena was chosen by a wild Zoid to be its pilot. And a powerhouse like a Gordos to boot! Doctor Toros was overjoyed at having such a cool and rare Zoid as a part of the Blitz Team, and immediately went to build a Gordos model that he'd been saving for this occasion.

Meanwhile, Jamie and Leena were running a systems check with the Gordos to make sure everything was up and running. But above all else, they were registering the Gordos as a Zoid for the Blitz Team. But while this was going on, Ben was outside being challenged by Harry.

"Mister Tennyson, I challenge you-!" Harry started.

"Sure, I'll fight." Ben said.

"A Zoid battle! With Leena going to the victor!" Harry finished. "Hey wait, you already said yes?"

Their conversation was in earshot of Leena and Jamie. Jamie was a bit unsure about this situation, but Leena looked ready to milk it for all it was worth.

"Did you hear what they said, Jamie?" Leena asked.

"I sure did! But I don't get why Ben wants to fight." Jamie said.

"Come off it, silly! It's obvious that Harry is jealous of me and Ben, and my Benji just wants to defend our relationship!" Leena said before sighing dreamily. "Ben Tennyson, my knight in shining armor…"

"Yeah, right. But I wouldn't get all mushy if I were you." Jamie said.

Leena looked at the young aerial Zoid pilot with a look that clearly said that she didn't understand what he meant.

"Did you honestly not stop to think about what happens if Harry wins?" Jamie asked.

Leena thought about this for a minute. It's true that if Harry did win, she'd be going to him. But she had faith in both Ben, and her new Gordos! That spoiled rich kid wasn't going to beat them this time, and she was sure of it! The Gordos roared in agreement, as if sensing what its pilot was thinking.

It could tell that Leena and Ben were courting due to their scent being on each other! And if this 'Harry Cramp' or whoever he is was failing to notice that, then he should be put in his place!

"Don't worry Jamie. Gordos is right, we won't lose to Harry!" Leena said confidently. "Right, girl?"

Leena affectionately pat the control pad of her Gordos, getting a purr of sorts from her new Zoid. She now understood what Ben meant about Zoids being alive. Her Gordos was just as alive as any other human being was!

"Okay, but before we do any sort of fighting we need to finish registering the Gordos as a Blitz Team Zoid." Jamie informed.

* * *

 _ *****The Next Day*****_

* * *

The Blitz Team had finally made it to the battle location. It was an abandoned city that was due for demolition in a few days, but was perfect for the type of Battle Mode that was selected. It was a blind battle, which the Champ Team specializes in.

In front of the entrance to the city was the Champ team in their Zoids. Harry was leading the charge in his custom made Dark Horn. His Dark Horn looked like a styracosaurus that had a bunch of heavy arsenals attached to it. And while most Dark Horns were entirely black with green eyes and knobs, and a single black colored horn, Harry's Dark Horn had two golden yellow colored horns, knobs, frill pieces, and lighter green eyes.

A purple colored robot that was one of Harry's teammates, Benjamin, was piloting a brown colored Cobra Type Zoid known as a Stealth Viper. And the smaller green robot, Sebastian, was piloting a dark green, almost black Monitor Lizard Type Zoid called a Heldigunner.

"My name's Harry Champ. I'm a man destined to be king!" Harry says to himself.

Finally, the Champ Team saw their enemy rolling up in the Hover Cargo. They were ready for them, and ran into the city to find some cover. But before Harry left, he noticed that the Blitz Team had an oddly colored Gordos on their team in place of their old Dibison.

" _They must've managed to find Leena a new Zoid."_ Harry thought to himself.

The Judge Capsule finally landed on the outskirts of the city. It rose up out of the crater, and the Judge began to start the battle.

 **"The area within the city is now a designated Zoid Battlefield! Only competitors and personnel are allowed beyond this point! Danger! All others must leave the area at once! Area scanned… Battlefield, set up! The Champ Team vs. the Blitz Team! Battle Mode 0973! Ready…? Fight!"**

The Blitz Team's Zoids all went into the city to try and find their targets. But it was gonna be pretty hard for them to do since there were so many buildings. And the radars were almost no help at all! But Leena did have it slightly easier thanks to the 3D Radar in her Gordos.

"Man, Gordos. I don't know what we'd do if it weren't for your 3D Radar!" Leena said.

Gordos roared in agreement. Her radar had saved her from many an ambush in the wild, and she had honed it to the best. A blip suddenly appeared on the radar, and the Gordos roared at the prospect of a challenge.

"You're right, girl. This one's ours!" Leena declared.

Gordos sped up and rounded the corner, ready to fight the enemy. However, it stopped when both Zoid and pilot alike saw that there was supposedly no one there. But Gordos was smarter than that. She knew there was an enemy nearby. She noticed the brief signs of a Stealth Viper behind a building, and roared to get Leena's attention.

"Huh? What's wrong, Gordos? You see something?" Leena asked.

Gordos didn't answer with words. Instead, she aimed her Railguns at one of the nearby buildings and locked onto something back there. Leena was confused, but didn't question the wisdom of her Zoid.

"You want me to fire there?" Leena asked, getting a growl in return. "Okay, I trust you."

Leena pulled the trigger, and fired two armor piercing rounds right through the building! She heard a familiar scream as a Stealth Viper fell to the ground. Its computer systems were frozen, so Leena knew that Gordos must've hit something vital for that to happen with one shot.

 **"Alright, whoo! Way to go, Gordos! You are an amazing Zoid!"** Leena cheered.

Gordos roared in victory over her win. Sure her opponent didn't put up much of a fight before freezing, but she was just happy to have won a fight with her human partner at her side! Now if only things were so easy for Brad and Ben.

Ben and the Liger Zero were currently walking through the abandoned city. They were searching for Harry, knowing that it was better to never get cornered in a blind battle. A bleeping dot on his radar alerted him to one of the enemies attempting to corner him.

"There he is! He's in the building right behind me!" Ben said to himself.

He spoke too soon as Harry's Dark Horn burst through the building with its guns at the ready. Harry was grinning a maniacal grin that seemed downright evil!

"So there ya are, Ben! Come to papa!" Harry said arrogantly.

Ben cursed and made the Liger run away at full speed while Harry kept shooting like crazy in an attempt to freeze the Liger Zero quickly. But Ben wasn't letting that happen without a fight! He maneuvered the Liger in ways that dodged the bullets from the Dark Horn while not losing speed. Up ahead, Ben saw something that would be his saving grace.

"There! We'll pull a tight turn up ahead! That Dark Horn won't be able to make a turn like that." Ben said to the Liger Zero.

Liger Zero roared in agreement. Using his claws to get a better grip on the ground, the Liger drifted to make a tight left turn and sped off thinking that the Dark Horn wouldn't be able to follow. But that was where they were wrong.

The Dark Horn had somehow managed to make that tight turn, and kept running after Ben and the Liger while firing like crazy! Ben gritted his teeth in confusion.

"A Zoid like that shouldn't be able to make those tight turns! What's with that Dark Horn?" Ben asked himself.

Harry was all too happy to answer if it meant he could brag about his Zoid.

"This is no ordinary Dark Horn, my friend! This is a Dark Horn Champ Special! It's fitted with a special Gatling Rifle that can fire three thousand rounds per minute! And this Altar High Density Output Beam Cannon is a special component. Oh! And finally, I've got this High Capacity Thruster Unit!" Harry explained. "This Zoid is specially designed to have both high assault and maneuverability! It's perfect! And befitting a prince like myself! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Harry kept firing like crazy, but Ben wasn't going to make it easy for him! He activated the Liger Zero's Ion Boosters, and rocketed towards a nearby wall. Harry thought he was mad for pulling a stunt like this, but was soon stunned with serious surprise when the Liger Zero bounced off of the wall with its claws and mane glowing with its signature attack.

 **"EAT THIS, HARRY! STRIKE LASER CLAW!"** Ben yelled.

The Liger came down with even more power to its claws thanks to the aid of gravity. Its claws sliced clean through the two legs on the left side of the Dark Horn. It fell to its side as its system froze.

 **"NO! NO! NO! NO! LEENA, FORGIVE ME! I'VE FAILED YOU!"** Harry wailed.

While this was going down, Brad had just taken down his own prey. Sebastian had managed to give Brad a run for his money, but ultimately the Command Wolf had bested the Heldigunner. And with that, the Blitz Team won yet again.

 **"THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE WINNER IS… THE BLITZ TEAM!"**

Ben and Leena celebrated their victory, complimenting their Zoids for a job well done. They knew there'd be many more battles ahead, but for now, they were just happy to have won another battle. Leena suddenly remembered something, and called Ben on the comm system.

"Hey, Ben! About your question yesterday. Consider yourself lucky, because you and I are officially an item!" Leena said with a wink.

Ben blushed and smiled. He had originally sworn to never let anyone else into his heart again. But He decided that he could give Leena a chance.

* * *

 _ *****A Few Hours Later*****_

* * *

Doctor Toros was sweating nervously as Ben glared at him. Ben was not at all happy with the good doctor's parts order, and was now challenging him.

"You can't be serious about equipping these things to the Liger Zero, are you?" Ben asked.

He pulled up a hologram of Liger Zero wearing a blue armor with huge boosters on its back, an orange armor with lots of blades, and a green armor that looked bulky and heavy.

"This blue armor is great for high speed battles, but sucks at getting in close. If it had a few guns attached, I might be more inclined to keep it." Ben said.

He pointed to the orange armor.

"This armor has superb close combat abilities, but it has practically no way to fend off enemies that get too close. Again, it would require a few guns." Ben explained further.

Then he pulled up the image of the green armor.

"Now this armor is a real problem. It has awesome assault and defense capabilities, but it's heavier than an Elephander! Like hell would I ever equip such heavy armor to Liger Zero! It would break him beyond repair!" Ben said.

Doctor Toros slumped down from hearing the faults of these armors.

"I know, but they're meant to function as a single unit! Besides, they look so cool!" Doc said.

"I know that. But that's exactly why I cancelled your order. I know the guys you ordered from, and they know that If I'm not happy with something, then they don't give me the parts. Here, take a look at these instead." Ben said.

He pulled out two stone carvings that he had created in his spare time. They were both Ligers. One was black, and the other was gold in color. One seemed to be streamlined and built for speed, handling, and mid to close range combat as well as high speed battles. The other had many blades, but it also had a few different guns on it to keep any enemies at bay. And best of all, they looked way cooler than what doctor Toros was originally gonna buy!

"I designed these armors myself while we weren't in combat or training. Let me talk to some Parts Dealers I know, and we can get the parts delivered to the base." Ben said

"Well, Ben. I can't see any fault in your plan, so… You got a deal! I'll put in the order first thing in the morning!" Doc said.

"Sweet! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna turn in for the night." Ben said with a yawn.

He left for his room to get some much needed rest. It had indeed been a long day for the whole team. Ben was just wondering what sort of challenges awaited them tomorrow.

* * *

 _ **Ending Narration (Ben): "What's going on?! They can't hit the judge! And where'd this Dark Judge replacement come from?!"**_

 _ **"A sinister organization that bends all the rules has been seriously messing with the Zoid Battles. And NOW they've kidnapped Leena! Don't worry, Babe! I'll save you! Next time on Ben 10: New Century Zero; Illegal Battle: The Mysterious Backdraft Group is Coming After Us! Ready…? Fight!"**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Okay, guys! Here are the names of the first two conversion units I have for Ben's Liger Zero.**_

 _ **High Speed Assault Unit: Overdrive**_

 _ **Mid to Close Range Unit: Percival**_

 _ **I'm gonna try to make a Deviantart account so that I can show you guys a better picture of what I have planned for character design, and Armor Units. Even a few new Ultimate X Zoids I plan to introduce. The operative word being "try". I don't know if I can pull it off or not with my artwork.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids!**_

* * *

"..." = Talking

 _"Italics" = Thinking_

 _"Italic Underlined" = Dark Judge Talking_

 **"Bold" = Yelling**

 **"Bold Underlined" = ZBC Judge Talking**

* * *

 **Organized under strict rules and regulations,**

 **Zoid Battles are fighting competitions held on enormous battlefields,**

 **Using mechanical combat units known as Zoids!**

 **The enthusiast young warriors put their pride on the line,**

 **And sharpen their skills against one another!**

 **Battle Mode approved!**

 **Area scanned!**

 **Battlefield, set up!**

 **Ready...?**

 **FIGHT!**

* * *

 _ **Illegal Battle: The Mysterious Backdraft Group is Coming After Us!**_

* * *

Driving back from a local parts shop, Ben had been sent out by doctor Toros to get some new equipment for the Zoids. Fortunately, Ben had been able to buy himself a new truck using some of his Prize Money from the Zoid Battles. At least this meant transportation and hauling cargo wouldn't be a problem.

Ben was pretty tired from having spent the whole day getting supplies. Not to mention having had to have constantly remind himself not to forget to pick up the part Leena had ordered for her Gordos. Ben knew that if he forgot that part, Leena would probably kill him, bury him, dig him up, clone him, kill all his clones, and then never speak to him again! ...Wow. Quite the profound imagination Ben's got, eh folks?

But now, he had everything he needed to build that new weapon for the Liger Zero that would work perfectly with his base armor. And now that Ben thought about it, that white armor seemed just a bit too plain. Ben wanted Liger Zero to have just a bit more flair to his armor and also just a little bit more intimidation factor.

"I wonder if I could repaint Liger's armor later on?" Ben asked himself.

Doctor Toros had already sent out the order for the new armors of the Liger's CAS system, so it would be awhile before Ben could have the Liger's primary armor repainted. But in the meantime, Ben just wanted to get home and take a shower before having a quick nap.

Meanwhile, Jamie was busy polishing his Pteras. He loved that Zoid a lot, and always made sure it was in perfect working order. Even though Jamie was a Zoid Pilot, he really wasn't much of a warrior. He preferred to remain on the sidelines helping the team by making strategies.

Jamie was just finishing up with polishing his Pteras, then smiled at his Zoid.

"I love you, Pteras! You're the greatest Zoid a guy could ask for!" Jamie said whilst hugging the canopy of his Zoid.

He ceased his little love fest when he heard a truck's motor. Jamie looked down from where he was working, and saw Ben park his truck in the hangar.

"Hey, Ben. Did you get everything?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah, it's all here. I had a hell of a time trying to remember to pick up that part Leena ordered." Ben said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going for a shower."

"Wait a minute, Ben! Leena might still be in there!" Jamie warned.

Unfortunately, the young aerial Zoid pilot's warning came too late. Ben was already out the door, and ready to grab the stuff he needed for a relaxing shower. It didn't take him long to get the things he needed, and walk down to the shower. He knocked a few times on the door before entering, having heard Jamie's warning about Leena being in the shower.

"Leena, are you in there?" Ben asked.

He put his ear to the door and listened for a reply. When he heard none, he assumed that Leena had already left the bathroom. Unfortunately, in all the time Ben had been with the Blitz Team, they neglected to inform him that the door and walls of the bathroom were soundproofed. So, when Ben opened the door, he saw firsthand that Leena had just gotten out of the shower.

Thankfully, Leena had a towel wrapped around her body, but water was still dripping from her hair to show that she had just gotten out. Both teens froze when they saw each other, and their faces began to turn so red they could make a Saber Tiger green with envy. Ben wasn't a pervert by any means, but he still couldn't stop himself from staring at her towel clad body. But instead of chasing Ben out while yelling at him for being a pervert like he thought she would, Leena did something else entirely.

She batted her eyelashes at him while narrowing her eyes seductively at him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're a naughty boy, Ben. Walking in on me while I'm in the shower." Leena said, wagging her finger at him.

Ben's blush turned fullbody while Leena started to walk past him. She knew about one thing Ben was thinking about, and stopped to whisper something in his ear.

"Don't worry, Ben. I won't tell anyone about what happened here." Leena said.

She then left for her room to get dressed while Ben just stood there as the door closed. Ben didn't notice it at first, but a little bit of blood ended up dripping down from his nose.

Later on, Ben had finished with his shower and was now fully dressed. He had gotten word that doctor Toros wanted to speak to the team about something, and was heading for the conference room to hear what the good doctor had to say. When he got there, he saw that Jamie and Brad were there along with doctor Toros. However, Leena wasn't there.

"Hey, guys. Where's Leena?" Ben asked.

"I let her take my Pteras out for a fly earlier today, and haven't heard from her since." Jamie explained.

"She probably got lost." Brad said indifferently. "Leena's never used a flying Zoid before, so it stands to reason that she can't navigate with Jamie's Pteras."

Ben narrowed his one good eye at Brad's indifference, and scowled at the Merc. That was Ben's girlfriend he was talking about, and Ben certainly did not appreciate such thinking about Leena like that. But our Liger pilot would dwell on that later. For now, Ben had other priorities. Like finding Leena!

"I know for a fact that Leena would never get lost, even when piloting an unfamiliar Zoid!" Ben said in Leena's defense. "But just in case, I'm going out to look for her."

Ben got up to get into the Liger, but the Video Phone started beeping. Doctor Toros answered, and saw something unexpected. It was a man with strange looking sunglasses, and dark hair that was slicked back. He was sitting at a desk smiling with his fingers crossed under his chin.

"Hello. I assume I have the attention of the Blitz Team?" The figure asked.

"You do. And who might you be?" Doc asked. "What reason have you for calling our humble team today?"

The figure gave a slight chuckle that set Ben on edge for some reason or another. And for good reason, too.

"We are the Backdraft Group." The man said.

"The Backdraft Group?" asked a puzzled Jamie.

"I heard about them during my travels as a Junk Dealer. These guys are a hardcore group that's too in to money and power to understand civil rights. These guys are cheaters who don't play by the rules." Ben explained.

"They're also popular with unsanctioned battles, causing very many injuries, and are even rumored to have caused a few deaths because their battles are so dangerous." Brad added.

The man on the screen hummed, still smiling for some reason.

"We take every precaution before attempting to do such, but accidents do happen. We find it more fun if danger is involved, both for those participating, and for those watching. Makes a greater profit. How else can we do all the things we do? Our numbers and our powerful Zoids, and the research we do helps the world! Not just us." The man claimed.

But Ben just narrowed his good eye even more from such a proclamation. He knew of the kind of research that the Backdraft Group did, and knew that it would never help the world!

"Yeah, right! You guys have no right to call yourselves warriors! That so called 'research' you do, is just digging into dark pasts that should remain buried! You do these unsanctioned battles without the other team's consent, and then rig them so you guys will win with no trouble on your part! You lack the honor of true Zoid Warriors!" Ben declared.

The man chuckled a bit more. This time it was a bit louder, and his shoulders shook as he did.

"Well, you must be very well informed to know how we operate. But we do still have SOME sense of honor! We do make sure if our opponent is in danger, we are in the same situation." The man said.

Ben just glared at him. He knew that he couldn't trust this man as far as he could throw him! The man cleared his throat.

"We would like to have a Zoid Battle with the Blitz Team. And before you answer outright, let me show you something..."

The screen shifted to show a blue Pteras Zoid that looked to be a dead ringer for Jamie's Pteras. Doctor Toros gasped as realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

"If that's Jamie's Pteras, and they have it... Then that means they also have..." Doc trailed off.

The man chuckled as he came back on the screen.

"You catch on fast, as I expect from a PhD holder and a highly intelligent expert on Zoids. Your daughter is here of course in our care. We will be keeping the Pteras, but if we battle and you win, you can have your daughter back. If we win, we take all your Zoids." The man challenged.

Ben growled as he tried to keep his anger in check. If there was one thing he knew from his days as a hero, it was that rushing in blindly wasn't going to solve anything. But that didn't mean he had to like it!

"Like I said before. Forcing your opponent into these situations..." Ben growled.

Doctor Toros growled with Ben. Even though he didn't want to battle these guys, there was really no choice here. Like it or not, he had no choice but to accept.

"Fine, we'll battle. But you better give her back when we win!" Doc demanded.

"We are people of our word, no matter what others may say. We will send you the coordinates and the time within an hour." The man said with a nod.

When the screen turned off, a loud roar was heard followed by a bang. The others looked to see that Ben had punched a hole in the wall, bloodying his knuckles and creating a spiderweb of cracks in the process. They could see the rage in Ben's lone eye as he pulled his fist out of the wall.

 **"THOSE MOTHER FUCKERS! HOW DARE THEY KIDNAP LEENA LIKE THAT, AND THEN FORCE US INTO BATTLE BY USING HER AS A BARGAINING CHIP LIKE THAT?!"** Ben yelled.

He began to stomp out the door in his rage. But before he left, Ben turned around to face the rest of the team.

"The rest of you stay out of this fight! These guys had the gall to kidnap my girlfriend, and I'm gonna wring their necks for doing that!" Ben declared.

It was obvious that Ben cared about Leena very much. Doctor Toros could see that now. When Leena had first told him that she and Ben had started dating, he had thought it was just puppy love that would never last. But he could see now that Ben's love for Leena was true and pure. Something that was very rare in the world these days. He figured that now was as good a time as ever to give Ben a little something to help in the fight.

"Hey, Ben. Come with me for a second. I've got something that I think might help you in your fight against the Backdraft." Doc said.

Ben forgot his anger for a moment, and followed doctor Toros to the hangar. When they got there, the doctor led Ben to a giant object that was covered by a huge tarp. It was long, and seemed to have an edge that looked very sharp if the angle at the top of the tarp was anything to go by.

"What is this, Doc?" Ben asked.

"A little something that was meant for one of the armor units that we ordered. I was gonna give it to you when the rest of the parts came in, but with Leena's safety on the line I think now's as good a time as any to test out its edge!" Doc said.

The tarp was lifted to reveal something that made Ben gasp in shock. It was a special component that was meant to go with the golden colored armor unit that Ben had created.

It was a giant laser blade that was forged in the form of a Crusader's Sword and scabbard from medieval times. The blade itself was colored a brilliant silver while the handle was especially designed so that the Liger Zero could hold this sword in its mouth. The hilt and guard of the sword were fashioned to look like the Liger Zero's head with Liger's mouth open like it was holding the blade. The scabbard was colored black and had some red wrappings to give it a more ornate look.

"Excalibur..." Ben said in awe.

Ben decided to name this blade after the Sword in the Stone from the fictional book about King Arthur. It seemed appropriate for the armor that he had in mind.

"Yup! I want you and the Liger to take down the Backdraft Group with this sword, and get Leena back!" Doc said.

Ben nodded at the good doctor, determination clear in his eyes. These Backdraft goons had kidnapped his girlfriend, and Ben wasn't about to let them get away with it! For now, Ben decided to get to work on getting Excalibur mounted onto the Liger.

Doctor Toros had decided to hell Ben with that since the blade was fairly heavy. Even Jamie leant a hand with mounting the blade. But while they were working, Jamie and Doc couldn't help but wonder about the origin of their friend and teammate. Sure they knew he used to be a Junk Dealer, but that was all they knew. The two of them made a mental note to ask Ben a bit more about his past later on.

Finally after what felt like half a day, but in reality was only half an hour, the mighty blade Excalibur was mounted on to the Liger Zero's back. It was placed at an angle that would allow Liger Zero to grab it with its teeth, while at the same time it wouldn't cause any drag in order to allow maximum mobility.

"What do you think, Liger? That feel good?" Ben asked.

Liger Zero roared in approval of the blade. It would still take a bit of getting used to, but Liger Zero was more than eager to learn how to use the thing.

"Glad you like it, bud! We'd better get ready, because we've got a battle to catch!" Ben said.

Three days later at the designated time and coordinates, Ben was now mobilizing the Liger Zero. The Hover Cargo had activated its catapult, and launched Ben onto the battlefield. Ben was checking the systems to make sure that everything was in working order with Excalibur while he waited for his opponents to get there.

"Everything seems to be okay. All systems functioning at normal capacity." Ben said to himself.

Suddenly, a huge shadow appeared in the sky. Ben and Liger Zero looked up to see a huge, black carrier type Zoid known as a Whale King. Ben and Liger growled as they waited for their enemies to make their move. The Whale King suddenly shot something out of its underbelly. Black rods came down around the perimeter of the battlefield with Ben inside of it, while the Whale King flew to a ridge nearby.

Ben didn't know what those rods were for, but he knew that they must've had something to do with entrapment. The enemy Whale King set down, and something crashed into the ground. Rising up from the crater was something that looked similar to a Judge Capsule, only it was black and red in color. It opened up to reveal a Dark Judge. The only differences between this Judge and those of the ZBC were the fact that he was black, and his visor was spiked.

 _"This area is a designated Zoid battlefield. The Blitz Team vs. The Backdraft Group. Battle Mode... None! Ready...?"_

While doctor Toros went on a bit of a rant due to the lack of a Battle Mode, Ben was thinking about something. Things just didn't add up.

 _"Why is the enemy team not here yet when the Judge is just a second away from starting the match? Unless... SHIT! THEY'RE INVISIBLE!"_ Ben thought to himself.

 _"...FIGHT!"_

Ben ran like heck as he was soon under heavy fire from the enemy Hellcats. Since Ben couldn't see where the enemy was, he had to try something to draw out the enemy from their hiding place. But since Ben only had two ranged weapons, he decided to try and see what kind of entrapment these bozos used on him.

One of the shots from an enemy Hellcat hit between the rods, and a field of electricity appeared between the two rods. Ben narrowed his good eye, knowing that escape was impossible. The man from before showed up on Ben's screen.

"Now you see the technology we use to ensure our opponent doesn't run away. It wouldn't be any fun if that happened." He said. "By the way, where's the Command Wolf and the Gordos? You hiding them somewhere?"

"No. This is between you and me! You had the gall to kidnap my girlfriend, and now you've gotta deal with me!" Ben declared.

The man chuckled a little more.

"One against three? Not as much of a challenge as I thought it would be, but oh well. I'd like to see you take down just one of our warriors!" The man said.

The screen turned off, and Ben returned his focus to the battle at hand. He was still too busy dodging enemy fire, and trying to find them. So far, it seemed like a hopeless battle.

 _"I've gotta find a way to expose those Hellcat Zoids! But how can I... Wait a minute..."_ Ben thought to himself.

As Ben and the Liger kept running to avoid being hit, Ben noticed something about the enemy Zoids. Even though the Zoids themselves were camouflaged, their gunfire wasn't! Ben could see the light that their weapons made every time they shot a blast.

Ben started to grin as he realized that he could use this to his advantage. He had the Liger turn on a dime, and shelled the heck out of one of the Hellcats using his Shock Cannon. After six shots, the Panther Type Zoid was out of the fight. His two buddies were too stunned to dodge, and started firing like crazy out of sheer panic. Unfortunately for them, every shot missed. Ben used the Liger's tail gun to shoot down the remaining two Hellcats, and the Liger Zero roared in victory.

Doctor Toros and Jamie suddenly appeared on the comm screen.

"That was incredible, Ben! How'd you manage to take down three cloaked Hellcats like that?" Doc said, clearly impressed by Ben's performance.

"I noticed that even though the Zoids themselves were invisible, the light from when their weapons fired was not." Ben explained.

"So you used the light from their weapons to see where they were, and then used your long range weapons to take them out! Am I right?" Jamie asked.

"That's exactly right!" Ben said.

Ben's lone eye once again darkened as he and Liger Zero looked up to the passive Dark Judge.

"Call the match. I beat all of your warriors!" Ben demanded.

 _"I never gave a limit to the number of participants on either team. Only after you have defeated ALL of your opponents will I call the match."_

Suddenly, the Whale King shot an object from its nose and onto the battlefield. It looked to be a giant steel ball. At first it did nothing, but Ben stayed on his guard. He had to make a break for it, however, when the ball started rolling at high speeds towards his Liger.

"What the hell were they thinking?! This is supposed to be a ZOID Battle!" Ben said.

He and the Liger didn't stop running, but knew that they couldn't keep this up for long. He kept running seeing only poles for awhile, until he saw his saving grace. A cliff with no polls connected to it! Ben had the Liger stand in front of it, and waited for the steel ball to come to him.

At the last second, Ben had the Liger leap to the side just in time for the ball to collide with the cliff! His plan worked. The ball got stuck in the cliff and unable to cause problems for the Liger anymore. The man from the Backdraft appeared on Ben's screen chuckling.

"Well, that was quite impressive. You must really know your way around machines, and have a very agile Zoid to be able to pull that off even with such a heavy looking blade attached." He complimented. "But don't think you'll win! The Backdraft Group never loses!"

The screen went off, and Ben was on guard once again. He knew that there had to be more units somewhere, and grunted as the Liger got hit by shelling. Ben cursed as he realized there was one more invisible unit, and got the Liger Zero moving in order to prevent any further damage.

"Damn it! How do I fight this guy?! I doubt he's gonna be a pushover like those Hellcats were." Ben said to himself.

A slight beeping sound got Ben's attention as he looked at one of Liger's monitors. It showed a 3D picture of Liger Zero charging with an active Excalibur clutched in its jaws. Below the picture was the words "Knight Blade" below the image.

"You wanna use that attack? You sure you can pull it off?" Ben asked.

Liger Zero roared loudly in confirmation, and used its mouth to pull the sword from its scabbard. Liger clutched it firmly with its teeth, and growled as Ben looked determined.

"You're right, partner! Let's show this guy what happens when you mess with those we care about!" Ben declared.

He and Liger Zero turned around, and charged full speed at the enemy Saber which turned visible in shock. The man started firing a relentless barrage to try and stop Ben, but he missed every shot. Ben activated the blade of Excalibur, and the Crusader Sword started to glow with an intense silver colored energy.

"In the immortal words of the knights of olden days... **Have at thee, heathen! KNIGHT BLADE!"** Ben roared.

Ben activated the Ion Boosters, and moved at even greater speeds than before. There was only a brief flash and the sound of metal being sliced before Liger Zero skidded to a stop. Liger put Excalibur back into its scabbard, and the enemy Saber Tiger fell to the ground with its legs sliced off at the joints. It's computer system was completely frozen.

"Gotcha! And that's why the Backdraft Group will never beat us! You have no honor!" Ben said.

While this was going on, the Dark Judge was having a bit of a temper tantrum over the Backdraft's loss.

 _"NO! NO! NO! NO! AAAAARRRRRGH! *sigh* The battle is over... The winner is... The Blitz Team... Ehhh..."_ The Dark Judge cleared his throat. _"Until we meet again, Blitz Team! Good bye!"_

And with that said, the Dark Judge Capsule closed, and blasted off back into space. Ben looked at the enemy Whale King to see that it was taking off.

 **"No! I knew they'd keep Leena just to spite us! Don't worry, Leena! I'll save you!"** Ben yelled as he and Liger Zero desperately tried to catch up to the Whale King.

Suddenly, the Whale King's hull breached and started smoking. A Pteras that obviously belonged to Jamie flew out and headed back to the Hover Cargo. Ben and the others were shocked and relieved to see Leena's face pop up on the intercom.

"Yoo hoo! Thanks for the help, Ben. But I could've gotten out of there myself." Leena said, blowing a kiss at Ben.

Ben just smiled at Leena, happy that she was okay. Liger Zero roared in victory over the evil organization known as the Backdraft Group. Little did they know was that this would be the first of many more encounters with this group of miserable miscreants.

* * *

 _ **Ending Narration (Ben): The mercenary warrior, Jack Sisco along with his Lightning Saix have come to challenge us to a High Speed Battle. And it just so happens that I have new transformation parts for my Liger. Perfect timing! Zero Overdrive coming at ya!**_

 _ **But this isn't the only thing that needs the attention of Liger Zero's new transformations. Some shady characters from my past are the ones who hired Jack Sisco to battle us! And they're trying to take me back by force! Yeah, when I have a girlfriend like Leena and a great team on my side... That's never gonna happen!**_

 _ **Next time on Ben 10: New Century Zero; High Speed Battle: Transforming into Liger Zero Overdrive! Ready...? FIGHT!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Alright guys, time to see just what the Blitz Team is up against this time around! After all, the Lightning Saix is one of the fastest Zoids ever created in the old wars on Planet Zi. Also, I still need ideas for how Ben and Pierce get together in this story. SO PLEASE HELP ME WITH THAT! I've also chosen a third armor unit. This one already exists, but I've always liked it!**_

 _ **Electronic Warfare Armor = Liger Zero X**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids!**_

* * *

"..." = Talking

" _Italics" = Thinking_

" _Italic Underlined" = Dark Judge Talking_

 **"Bold" = Yelling**

 **"Bold Underlined" = ZBC Judge Talking**

* * *

 **Organized under strict rules and regulations,**

 **Zoid Battles are fighting competitions held on enormous battlefields,**

 **Using mechanical combat units known as Zoids!**

 **The enthusiast young warriors put their pride on the line,**

 **And sharpen their skills against one another!**

 **Battle Mode approved!**

 **Area scanned!**

 **Battlefield, set up!**

 **Ready…?**

 **FIGHT!**

* * *

 _ **High Speed Battle: Transforming Into Liger Zero Overdrive!**_

* * *

Ben and Leena had just gotten back to the base after taking the Liger Zero to get its primary armor repainted. Ben had asked for the Liger's consent before doing so, and the Zoid growled in agreement that a color change was in order. But he had to bring the whole Zoid so the workers knew what they were dealing with. Needless to say, Liger Zero was looking better than ever.

Its armor that used to be white along with the armor that made up Liger Zero's mane was now a very dark maroon red color, while the knobs that are on the joints had been repainted from bright red to black. Even its Ion Boosters were now black. The back and chest armor, along with the Downforce Stabilizers, the front of the canopy that met the top of the mane, and the armor behind the claws were painted to a beautiful gold color. Finally, Liger Zero's claws and teeth got changed from a golden color to a more silver color.

All in all, Liger Zero's base armor looked so much cooler now! Ben was seriously happy with the results of Liger's new paint job, and the Liger seemed to be just as happy about it!

"How're you liking your new look, Liger?" Ben asked.

Liger Zero growled back in happiness, making Ben and Leena smile. Ben actually saw this paint job in a dream once before, and felt some sort of connection to the guy in the dream. He felt a need to honor the Zoid he saw in that dream, and decided to use this paint job.

"You know, Liger really does seem happier with this new look." Leena commented.

"I know. Isn't it great?" Ben asked. "And I'm sure he'll be a lot more intimidating than before. Not saying that you weren't intimidating before the new paintjob, Liger."

The Liger growled, understanding what Ben meant. It wasn't long before the two warriors made it back to the Blitz Team base. Liger opened up the cockpit, and allowed Ben and Leena to climb out. They walked a bit over to the entrance to the hangar, but were intercepted by doctor Toros.

"Ah, there you are Ben. Come with me, you two. I've got something I wanna show you both." Doc said. "Liger's new paint job looks so cool, by the way!"

Ben and Leena followed doctor Toros to a separate room, and were certainly shocked. There were originally supposed to be two huge crates for Ben's new armor units, but there was a third one there as well. Leena was very surprised by this, but Ben looked like he felt a bit ripped off.

"Dad...?" Leena trailed off.

"What the hell is this?!" Ben finished.

* * *

 _ **XxX At a Bar for Zoid Warriors XxX**_

* * *

At a bar that was famous for Zoid Warriors, a lot of pilots were trying to get a certain mercenary on their team. And that Merc was playing poker by himself at his own table.

He was wearing a yellow and grey shirt, and grey pants. He also had a light blue checked headband with two strange appendages that slightly resembled toilet brushes hanging from the back of his head. The headband made his eyes look like thin slits like those of a snake, and spiky purple hair stuck out from the top of his head.

"Are you Jack Cisco?" asked a random pilot.

"What do you want?" Jack asked.

"I wanna hire you for a Zoid Battle. You'd make a great addition to my team!" the pilot explained.

"Got money?" Jack asked.

See, Jack Sisco is a well known mercenary that isn't well known for doing charity work. You had to have a lot of money if you wanted to hire this guy, and Jack sent the pilot away for offering an insulting fifty thousand. Another pilot walked up and pretty much offered a "blank check" of sorts, saying that he would pay whatever Jack wanted.

This did pique Jack's interest slightly, but he wouldn't work for someone with money alone. You also needed to have luck on your side. So Jack placed a random hand of poker cards face down on the table, and told the man to pick a card and try to guess the suit. The man picked a card saying that it was a spade, but guessed wrong. It was a clover. Jack sent the man back to his team.

He scoffed from the lack of good business, and took a drink from the Gatorade he had ordered. A new crowd of people consisting of three males and one female walked up to Jack's table.

"You must be Jack Cisco." the girl said.

Jack got a good look at the group. The one who spoke to him looked to be about sixteen years old. She had shoulder length reddish orange hair, green eyes that were behind blue tinted eye glasses, and a few freckles on her face. She wore a light blue T-shirt with a dark blue cat head on the chest, a dark blue skirt, and light blue flats.

The first of the boys looked to be a year older than the girl, and had this look of an automotive expert. He had greasy black hair that went past his shoulders, black eyes, and his skin was paler than the girl's. He wore a black shirt with long, white sleeves, blue jeans, and red sneakers.

The next one looked to be a few years older than the other two, but he didn't look all that human. He looked to be a masculine teen with a serious demeanor. He looked like a cross between a human and a cat, but had none of the other cat features. He was covered in periwinkle fur with black stripes, and was wearing a blue armor of some kind. His eyes kinda creeped Jack out since the sclera was yellow while his irises were red. He also appeared to be struggling with the heat. Quite understandable, since the town that the bar is located in was built near a desert.

Thankfully, the last male was totally human. He was an elderly man that looked to be in his mid forties, early fifties. He had grey hair, squinty looking eyes, a few more defined wrinkles, and a more pinkish skin color. He wore a red Bermuda shirt, khaki pants, and brown shoes.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Maxwell Tennyson, and these are my teammates. There's my granddaughter Gwendolyn, just call her Gwen. Then there's her boyfriend Kevin, and their friend Rook Blonko." Max introduced.

"Good to meet you in person, mister Cisco. Please, just call me Rook."

"And I should know about you guys, why?" Jack asked.

Kevin lifted up a briefcase, and put it on the table. The automotive looking teen was grinning as he knew how mercs work.

"We hear talk you'll work for Zoid Battle teams that can offer you a lot of money, and are lucky. What would you say if I told you that there's an even three million in there?" Kevin asked.

Now Jack was interested. That was a fairly decent payday for a bunch of strangers. However, there was still one condition that needed to be met. He laid another totally random hand of cards facedown on the table.

"Well, it looks like you've definitely got the money. But you still need luck! Pick a card, then guess what suit it is." Jack said.

Gwen closed her eyes as her hand hovered over the cards. She picked one on the far left.

"Hearts." Gwen said.

She flipped the card over to reveal that it was indeed hearts. Jack whistled at this show of luck. A team that both had the money to pay for his services, and had good luck. Whoever these guys were, they were certainly a team that Jack could work with!

"So, what kind of Zoids do ya have?" Jack asked.

"I have my Stealth Viper, mister Tennyson has his trusty Dibison, Kevin has a Saber Tiger Schwartz custom, and Gwen pilots a Shield Liger." Rook explained.

Jack gave another low whistle. Those were some pretty high quality Zoids! Jack got up, picked up the suitcase, and started walking towards the exit.

"Alright, I'll take the job! Who're we up against?" Jack asked.

"We'll explain on the way to our opponent's base. But let's just say that this match is kinda personal." Gwen said.

* * *

 _ **XxX Back with the Blitz Team XxX**_

* * *

"Well, Ben? What do you think?" Doc asked.

Ben was currently looking at the armors that had been brought in, and so far Ben was thoroughly amazed. The guts he knew definitely didn't skimp on any of the good stuff his High Speed Assault armor definitely looked like it was ready to take on anything. It was in the black colored box, and was primarily black in color because it was also a Stealth Coating. However, the armor also had red accents that gave off the impression of blood.

The weapons that this armor carried included twin shoulder mounted Missile Pods, a retractable back mounted AMD Double Barreled 20mm Beam Cannon, an Eight Missile Pod at the end of the tail, an Assault Gatling Gun, and small yet powerful Ion Boosters. And in case the enemy got too close, this armor unit also featured a Smoke Discharger. All of this equipment was lightweight so as to not cause any drag or lower the speed of Liger Zero.

"Well, everything checks out with this armor. It definitely looks like a perfect model for high speed battles!" Ben said with a grin.

"Ha ha, I knew you'd be impressed!" Doc said.

Next, Ben moved up to the gold container. Inside was the close range, defender type armor that Ben had based around one of the Knights of the Round Table from the fictional story of King Arthur.

It was primarily gold in color, but there were some parts of the armor that were colored white. Not only was Excalibur, the blade that was meant to go with this armor, now with it, but there were also five additional blades around the mane area of Liger Zero. These blades were meant to fold out and conform to the Liger's head, and allow maximum stabbing power while also cutting like a knife through tofu. The tail also had what looked to be a small knight shield with a dragon as the emblem. Built into this armor along with the Ion Boosters was an E-Shield that was perfect for a solid defense.

"Oh man, this armor is beautiful! Just gorgeous! And... Oh, tell me those custom cheeks aren't what I think they are!" Ben said in joy.

Doctor Toros just laughed at how excited Ben was about these new armors.

"Eeyup! Small, cheek mounted Vulcan Guns that'll help you repel any enemies that get too close!" Doc said.

Finally, Ben got to the third armor. This one greatly puzzled our young hero due to its strange design. It was in a blue container, and it seemed to be built around electrical Warfare. Yet at the same time, this armor felt familiar to Ben. Like he'd seen it before.

"So what's the story with this third armor?" Ben asked. "I don't recall is ordering a third armor unit."

"I'm glad you asked. That third armor is one that I found in some old Imperial ruins a few days before Leena was born. I ran a scan of the parts, and it turns out that they're compatible with the Liger Zero. When I found them they were in okay condition, but they were beginning to show signs of rust damage. So when we first got the Liger Zero, I had sent them out to be restored and modified." Doc explained.

Ben looked impressed at the sheer amount of dedication that doctor Toros had to keep these parts for all these years. But still, even if this was the third armor unit, Ben knew that nothing in any world was free. So he got the scaffolding down to ground level, and immediately cut to the chase.

"Okay, let's hear it. How much is this third armor gonna add to the total?" Ben asked.

Doctor Toros picked up a pen and a clipboard that had the receipt for the parts that came in. He looked over the total, and smiled in satisfaction at how much it was.

"Not much, considering that the third armor was already still in pretty good shape. And the discount that those guys you recommended gave me certainly cut down the total by a hefty amount." Doc explained. "I'd say you'll have it all paid off after another fifty wins. Does that sound fair?"

Ben thought it over. Fifty wins? That would be possible if they kept winning like they were, but Ben knew that there might be someone out there who will be able to take them down. But until then, he would keep winning matches for his team and give it his all! Plus, by the time it was paid off they'd be in the Class S competition!

"Sure. That sounds about right." Ben said.

He signed the paper, and doctor Toros went off to do some of his other chores. But he was stopped by Jamie.

"Hey, Doc. We should probably run a few tests on the armors just to make sure they work, don't you think?" Jamie asked.

"No, they'll work fine! Well, aside from one small detail." Doc replied.

"What's wrong, dad?" Leena asked.

"I haven't figured out a way to quickly and efficiently attach the Liger's new armors. Especially if we have to do it mid battle." Doc explained. "But, I'm sure if I concentrate hard enough I'll think of something!"

With that, doctor Toros went off to think about an effective way to install the Liger's new parts. Jamie, however, still wasn't sure about this.

"Ben, Leena, you guys agree with me, don't you?" Jamie asked.

Ben hummed as he thought about this. He looked back to the parts that were sent in from the shop. He knew they would work, but at this point if they did run any tests it would have to be for only one armor.

"Nah, Doc's right on this one. I know the guys that we bought these parts from, and they know better than to try and half ass anything! They work fine." Ben said. "Then again, we should at least calibrate the weapons of the High Speed Assault armor."

"Let me help you with that. If we work through the day, we can have it done by midnight." Jamie said.

"How about by dinner, if you don't mind skipping." Leena asked.

Ben nodded, really appreciating the help. Even though he was lacking in depth perception for awhile, his body quickly adapted to Ben having only one eye. Jamie went ahead to start on the calibration of the weapons, while Ben and Leena stayed behind for a bit. But that's when Ben heard the voices of three certain individuals that he honestly didn't want to see ever again.

 **"Ben!"**

 **"There you are!"**

 **"What're you doing still hanging around here, Tennyson?"**

Ben and the others turned around to see Gwen, Kevin, his grandpa Max, and some alien he didn't know along with the mercenary Jack Cisco. They had run into the hangar and seemed eager to see Ben again, but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the huge X shaped scar on Ben's upper body that was still a vivid crimson color. They also saw traces of a scar on Ben's left eye underneath his eye patch.

"Ben... What happened to you?" Gwen asked.

She tried to touch Ben, but the cold look he was giving them made Gwen step back in fear. His lone eye only added to this intimidation factor.

"Why do you care? You stopped caring the day I destroyed both the Omnitrix and the Ultimatrix, so why would you care now?!" Ben asked with enough venom to kill a snake.

 _"Omnitrix? Ultimatrix? What are you talking about, Ben?"_ Leena thought to herself.

Ben's grandpa stepped up to try and diffuse the situation. He knew that there was bad blood between Ben, Gwen and Kevin, and tried to settle this matter diplomatically.

"Now listen, Ben. I know that Gwen and Kevin didn't stick by your side when you needed them the most, but that's no reason to lash out." Max said.

"Figures you'd take the traitors side! Nothing I did was ever good for your little group of galactic policemen! So just get to the point of why you're here!" Ben ordered.

Kevin stepped up looking confident that this would work.

"Listen, Tennyson. Azmuth made a new Omnitrix, and wants you to come back to Earth and be its protector again. So stop being a baby, and quit this whole Zoid Warrior schtick! And besides, there are better girls on Earth than the uglies that live on this backwater planet." Kevin said.

The reaction he got wasn't a friendly one. He first got punched in the face by Ben, breaking his nose, then Leena walked up and kicked Kevin in the nuts! Hard! Kevin fell to the ground in pain, clutching his hurt testicles and hoping he wasn't sterile. Max, Jack, and Rook covered their groins wincing in sympathy for their fellow male, even though he brought that on himself.

Ben grabbed Kevin by the front of his shirt and brought him up to eye level. Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like a smidgen of Rath's personality has resurfaced.

 **"Let me tell you something, Kevin Ethan Levin, Plumber Agent and serious pain in my butt! Leena happens to be my girlfriend! And if you call her ugly one more time, or even think about calling her by a derogatory name... I will shove my arm down your throat, rip your intestines out, knit them into a sweater, AND MAKE YOU WEAR IT!"** Ben yelled, spitting in Kevin's face in the process.

Before things could get out of Hand, Rook decided to try his hand at diplomacy.

"Ben, the only reason we were here at first was to challenge the Blitz Team to a Zoid Battle. And we wish to make a wager." Rook said.

"We're listening..." Ben said.

Seeing that Ben was calm enough to listen to the battle challenge, Rook cleared his throat and began to issue the wager.

"If we are to win this Zoid Battle, you Benjamin Tennyson, are to come back to Earth with us and accept the new Omnitrix. Should your team win, you will receive double the Prize Money and we will back off for some time." Rook explained.

Ben and Leena looked at each other. While the Prize Money did sound good, neither liked the idea of Ben being taken back to Earth if they lost. But at the same time, they knew that if they declined then these guys would win by default. And neither of them were about to let that happen.

The couple nodded at each other, and turned back to the "retrieval" team.

"Okay... Deal! But I expect you all to fight honorably. No Backdraft tactics!" Ben said.

"You have our word that this will be a fair fight." Max said. "Come on, team. Let's get going. We need to decide the team layout for the battle."

With that, the Tennyson entourage and Jack Cisco left to get everything ready for the battle. While they left, Ben and Leena turned back to each other. Ben already knew that his girlfriend would want answers.

"Leena... We need to talk." Ben said.

The two sat down next to the Liger Zero, and Ben started off the tale of his origin.

"It all started six years ago on a cross country summer road trip..." Ben started.

He then began to explain how he found the Omnitrix, a device that looked like a bulky wristwatch and let him turn into different alien heroes. He told her stories of how he used these alien powers to help people since he was ten years old. Even explaining about the time he, along with a team of Plumbers kids, stopped an invasion force of Highbreed and saved all worlds from destruction.

But then came one of the hardest and most painful things to talk about. Ben told Leena of the time when his sworn enemy, Vilgax, had managed to take the Omnitrix from Ben using Albedo and his Ultimate Omnitrix or Ultimatrix. He told her of how he had to destroy both devices in order to ensure that no one would ever again misuse the power of the codon stream. Then came the really sad part. Despite no longer having the Omnitrix, Ben was still scorned by many of his peers and much of his home town.

The only ones that did offer Ben any form of comfort were his mother and father. One day, it all became too much for Ben to bare, so he had to leave the planet in order to find happiness. Especially when his ex girlfriend Julie dumped him for some lanky French pedophilic sports photographer!

"I still remember the day I left so vividly…" Ben trailed off.

* * *

 _ **XxX Flashback Begin! XxX**_

* * *

"Are you sure this is the only way you can ever find happiness, Ben?" asked Ben's father, Carl.

Ben had managed to get his hands on a Plumber ship, and was getting ready to leave the Earth for good. He had already packed up all of the essentials for his trip. Ben already knew that Azmuth was probably in the process of creating a new Omnitrix, and Ben wanted nothing more to do with that wretched device!

He had already packed up everything of importance. Mainly his toothbrush, and a few changes of clothes. Ben's mother, Sandra, was already in tears as her son boarded the ship. She felt like she had failed her son as a mother for not being more supportive. She especially felt bad that she had never once after Ben was four allowed Ben to call her "mom".

"I'm positive, Carl." Ben said, using his father's first name. "If I stay here any longer, I have no doubts in my mind that my enemies will use you guys as a means to get to me! And without the Omnitrix, I'm powerless to stop them. I'm not about to let that happen."

After saying his last goodbyes, Ben turned on the ship and blasted away from Earth. Before he left, he had promised his parents that he'd send a postcard if he ever found an intergalactic post office. He'd been making a joke, of course, but he was serious about staying in contact.

* * *

 _ **XxX End Flashback XxX**_

* * *

"...So, that's my story, Leena." Ben said.

Ben closed his eyes and braced himself for the yelling and scorn that Leena was sure to give him. What he didn't count on, however, was the girl throwing her arms around Ben and sobbing into his shoulder. Not knowing what else to do, Ben just wrapped his arms around Leena and rubbed her back to try and calm her down.

"You don't have to worry, Ben. I'm never going to leave you! Not now, not ever!" Leena declared.

Now it was Ben's turn to tear up. He used one of his hands to gently lift Leena's chin so she could look into his eyes, and gently kissed her on the lips. When they separated, Ben helped Leena to her feet.

"Thank you, Leena. You have no idea how much this means to me!" Ben said. "Come on. Let's go help Jamie calibrate that armor unit!"

The two lovebirds walked over to the loading deck in order to help Jamie, completely unaware that doctor Toros and Brad had been listening in on their little talk. Both resolved to be a better team to Ben than his previous team was!

* * *

 _ **XxX Battle Time: The Next Day XxX**_

* * *

The Hover Cargo was pulling up to the area where the battle would take place, and was ready to launch the Zoids into battle. Liger Zero was currently in its High Speed Assault armor, and Ben was doing a once over with the systems. They had installed the CAS system into the Hover Cargo to easily change armor units quickly and efficiently, especially in the middle of a battle.

"Okay, everything seems to be working perfectly. No anomalies detected." Ben said. "Good to go, Doc!"

"Right! Oh, by the way! This happened so fast that you forgot to name your armors. Now's as good a time as ever." Doc said.

Ben thought about the armors. This one has great speed, handling, and assault capabilities, while the other that he had created had the blade power and defense of a Knight. Ben really didn't need much time to think about names for these ones.

"The black and red armor will be called Overdrive. And for the Gold one? Call it Percival!" Ben said.

Doctor Toros entered the names into the database, and was waiting on Ben for the third armor.

"And the third? What will you call that one?" Doc asked."

"Just refer to the third armor as Liger Zero X." Ben replied. "And Liger's base armor will now be referred to as Liger Zero Empire."

There was no time left to talk, as Liger Zero Overdrive was launched out into the battlefield. Brad's Command Wolf was next, followed by Leena's Gordos. They were met by three Zoids that were all feline in origin. The first was a black and red Cheetah Type Zoid known as a Lightning Saix. The second was a dark blue Shield Liger with a pink canopy, and a green colored Saber Tiger Schwartz custom that had orange eyes within its armored canopy.

Gwen and Kevin popped up on Ben's comm monitor, both looking like they didn't want to really fight.

"Ben, we're giving you one last chance to back out of this and come home peacefully. I really don't want to fight you!" Gwen said.

"Just listen to your cousin, Tennyson." Kevin ordered.

"No way! You guys issued this challenge, now you have to abide by it!" Ben said, cutting off communications with the two of them.

The Judge impacted several meters away in order to avoid getting hit. It rose up from the crater, and began to sound the beginning of the battle.

 **"The area within a thirty mile radius is a designated Zoid Battlefield! This zone is now restricted! Only competitors and personnel are allowed to enter! Danger! All others must leave the area at once! Area scanned… Battlefield, set up! The Blitz Team vs. The Terra Team! Battle Mode 0982! Ready…? FIGHT!"**

With the gong sounded, Jack and his Lightning Saix took off to try and capitalize on his speed, while Gwen and Kevin charged in to try and overpower the team. But Ben wasn't about to let that happen!

"Oh, no you don't!" Ben declared.

Faster than it ever had before, Liger Zero Overdrive took off after Jack and his Lightning Saix. They had caught up to the merc and his Zoid easily, and even when Jack had activated his Ion Boosters to try and gain some distance, Ben just did the same and caught up in half the time it took before! Jack was getting a major thrill from such a high speed fight, which hadn't happened in quite a long time.

Meanwhile, Leena had decided to take on the Shield Liger while Brad took on Kevin and his Saber Tiger. Leena had installed a couple of Missile Pods to the sides of her Gordos to increase her firepower, but this was proving to be difficult to get a clear shot due to the Liger's E-Shield.

"Why don't you just give up on that? Your Gordos may have some pretty impressive firepower, but it's nowhere near enough to get through my Energy Shield!" Gwen gloated.

Leena growled, as did her Gordos. They hated being taunted like that, and decided to use a different tactic. They let Gwen deactivate her E-Shield, and pounce at them with her Liger's fangs barred. They waited until just the right moment, then quickly turned around and slammed the Liger to the ground using the Gordos' tail spikes!

The Shield Liger was down, but Leena knew it was far from out! She used a combination of missiles and Railgun fire to shell the downed Shield Liger, until its system froze. Gwen wasn't very happy about it.

But as for Brad? He was currently running for his life while Kevin kept firing a heavy barrage of gunfire at the Command Wolf. Kevin seemed to be getting a kick out of this.

"What's the matter, mutt? Running from a battle with your tail between your legs?" Kevin taunted.

"I'm not running because I have to!" Brad said. "Just waiting for the right moment to strike!"

"Yeah? And what moment would that be?" Kevin asked.

His question was answered when he found that while his guns were trying to shoot, no bullets or missiles were coming out of the barrels. He had wasted all of his ammo toying with the Command Wolf!

"NOW!" Brad said.

He fired a relentless barrage at the enemy Saber, and hit quite a few of its vulnerable areas. The results were destroyed weapons, dented armor that was covered in soot, and a frozen Saber Tiger.

 **"OH, COME ON!"** Kevin yelled.

And now with Ben and Jack Cisco, they were still going at it in a high speed game of chicken. Zero Overdrive suddenly slowed to a stop, and roared at the enemy Lightning Saix.

"Liger, what're you doing?" Ben asked.

Liger Zero Overdrive suddenly readied all weapons, and a multitude of screens appeared in the cockpit. Ben was amazed when all of the targeters locked onto the now charging Lightning Saix. He grinned as he asked a single question.

"Can you really pull it off, Liger?" Ben asked.

The Liger's response was to merge all of the targeters into one, and wait for a closer target. Ben nodded in understanding, and kept his finger on the trigger. Ben waited for the Lightning Saix to get a lot closer since he only had one shot. Once it was close enough, Ben pulled the trigger and yelled the name of Overdrive's newest special attack.

 **"Okay, here we go! HYBRID WARHEAD!"**

All of the Liger's weapons opened fire simultaneously, and took the Lightning Saix by surprise. At the speed Jack was going , he couldn't slow down or turn in time, and got hit by a ton of bullets and missiles! When the smoke cleared, the Lightning Saix was still standing, but it was heavily damaged. Jack seemed to sigh with a small smile on his face.

"Heh… Guess there's a first for everything." Jack said. "I've lost…"

The Lightning Saix fell to the ground with its computer system frozen. The Judge sounded the end of the battle.

 **"THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE WINNER IS… THE BLITZ TEAM!"**

Ben and Jack had gotten out of their Zoids and were now just talking with each other.

"That was quite a battle you put up there, kid! I've never lost a battle before now. You're a good pilot, kid." Jack said.

"Thanks. So are you! The name's Ben Tennyson, and this is my Zoid partner Liger Zero." Ben said.

"Liger Zero… Quite an impressive Zoid it is. Next time, you and I should battle one on one!" Jack said.

"Sorry, but I'm gonna have to pass. High Speed Battles are real murder on the body!" Ben respectfully declined.

"You're one of the rare few that understand that." Jack said.

Later that night, the Blitz Team had all gone to sleep after having a celebratory dinner since the Prize Money was more than the normal amount. Not to mention that Leena had chased the Terra Team away by hitting them all over the head with a frying pan, and chasing them further with a butcher knife. Only Jack was safe due to the fact that he was on good terms with Ben now.

Ben wasn't asleep as he was busy working on a new stone carving for a fourth armor unit. He had an idea in mind, but only time would tell whether it was going to be successful.

"I sure hope this works." Ben said to himself. "If it does, we'll be even more powerful than ever!"

Ben was broken from his thoughts when he heard the door to his room open up. He looked over to see Leena standing there in her night clothes. She was blushing slightly, and seemed to be a bit scared of something.

"Hey, babe. What's wrong?" Ben asked.

"I can't sleep. Can I lay with you for the night?" Leena asked.

While Ben normally wouldn't do that, he could see that Leena was very scared of something and decide to do so.

"Sure, Leena." Ben said.

He put down his supplies, dusted himself off, and laid down in bed with Leena curling up next to him. She wrapped her arms around Ben, and was asleep in no time. Ben kissed her on the forehead, and was soon asleep himself.

* * *

 _ **Ending Narration (Ben): Leena's Gordos is heavily damaged, yet still alive! What kind of Zoid did that to her?! The Backdraft Group tries to mess with our battle again, but this time they bring in a new Zoid with perfect offensive AND defensive abilities! Why won't they leave us alone?!**_

 _ **Next time, on Ben 10: New Century Zero; The Dark Giant: The Invincible Elephander! We've got to defeat the Invincible Elephander. Ready…? FIGHT!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Okay guys, this chapter is the last time I'm putting up the language key for any and all of my Zoids stories. Same for the author's notes unless I really need help with something. I just feel like these things take up too much time from the actual story. Oh, and if guest reviewer Omnipotent 18 is reading this, my Deviantart account has the same name as my fanfiction account, and I'll probably have your story request posted soon. I don't know exactly when though.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids!**_

* * *

"..." = Talking _ **  
**_ _  
"Italics" = Thinking_ _ **  
**_ _  
"Italic Underlined" = Dark Judge Talking_ _ **  
**_ **  
"Bold" = Yelling** _ **  
**_ **  
"Bold Underlined" = ZBC Judge Talking**

* * *

 **Organized under strict rules and regulations,**

 **Zoid Battles are fighting competitions held on enormous battlefields,**

 **Using mechanical combat units known as Zoids!**

 **The enthusiast young warriors put their pride on the line,**

 **And sharpen their skills against one another!**

 **Battle Mode approved!**

 **Area scanned!**

 **Battlefield, set up!**

 **Ready...?**

 **FIGHT!**

* * *

 _ **The Dark Giant: The Invincible Elephander!**_

* * *

In a canyon region, a Zoid Battle was currently underway between the Blitz Team and the Viper Team. The battle was going in the Blitz Team's favor, but a thunder and lightning storm had happened. All of the electricity was making the Gordos and Leena nervous. It was no big secret that Zoids were natural lightning rods.

Leena grunted as another bolt of electrical death just missed her Zoid. The lightning was seriously scaring the Gordos, and Leena was struggling to keep it under control.

"Just my luck, to rain on my battle! How can I see the enemy when I can't even see what's in front of me?" Leena asked herself.

Brad appeared on Leena's comm monitor to try and get the girl to stay focused.

"Leena, keep your eyes peeled. The enemy's not far away!" Brad said.

"I know that, I saw him!" Leena said. "And the only one left is that one Stealth Viper, right?"

Leena's radar began to beep as it caught a signal. From behind a rock, the final Stealth Viper appeared. It must've been trying to ambush Leena, but the pilot got impatient and blew their own cover!

"Got it!" Leena said.

The targeter for her Railguns locked onto the Stealth Viper as Leena prepared to take it down in one shot.

"This one's mine!" Leena declared.

She was ready to pull the trigger and take out the enemy, but stopped when her Gordos grew even more skittish than it already was. Leena looked to her radar, and saw something. Something big.

"I'm picking up a heat signature from behind the enemy Stealth Viper." Leena said. "What could be that enormous? I wonder if..."

A huge shadow suddenly appeared behind the Stealth Viper, and whatever it was seemed to have its sights set on Leena and her Gordos! Ben had arrived on the scene just as whatever it was shot down the Gordos. Ben started having flashbacks of when that enemy team destroyed the Dibison, and nearly killed Leena just as the judge cancelled the battle.

He gritted his teeth, and fired a shot the Liger's tail gun. It shot a piece of the enemy Zoid off just as the Judge Satellite lost its lock on the Zoid.

"Not again...!" Ben growled.

The enemy Zoid got away, but no one else got hurt. Well, none of the pilots did anyway. But Leena's Gordos was hurt bad.

* * *

 _ **XxX In a Hidden Base XxX**_

* * *

"Stoller, several of the clients were very displeased by what had happened to the Elephander when you crashed that battle." said the Backdraft leader. "Care to explain?"

A man with grey colored hair, pale skin, and blue eyes with slit pupils appeared on the monitor comm. He appeared to have been a warrior at one time, but must've been retired for one reason or another.

"It was a small miscalculation on our part." Stoller said. "We had no idea that the Liger's tail concealed a weapon. But worry not. Modifications are being made to the Elephander, and once complete, it will be nigh unstoppable!"

This seemed to please the leader, if only slightly. The Backdraft Group rarely accepted loss against anyone, but Stoller and his men had proven themselves to be competent warriors on more than one occasion. So he decided to let this one slide.

"Very well then. See to it that the Elephander is ready for combat by the time of the next match! Your target is the Blitz Team." said the leader.

"Does that mean we shall be participating in another unsanctioned battle soon?" Stoller asked.

"Indeed. So get the Elephander ready to mobilize!" ordered the leader.

Stoller nodded, and cut the communications. He had work to do, and started thinking of ways to make this battle far more interesting. They needed something that would give the enemy a handicap since their Elephander was so strong as it was right now.

Then it hit him! They could use the voice command system that was installed in the Elephander. It may still be in the experimental stage, but for this battle it would have to do.

"I suppose I should bring Sanders up to speed on the current situation." Stoller said to himself.

* * *

 _ **XxX Blitz Team Base XxX**_

* * *

The team was currently not in the best of moods. Leena was looking at her Gordos in worry as Ben assessed the damage that had been done to the poor Zoid. So far, he hadn't found any serious problems, but he did know that the Gordos would be unable to battle for awhile.

"Ohhh, my poor Gordos! I hope she's okay!" Leena said in worry.

"We got no prize money, and no points." Brad griped.

"Don't forget that the Viper Team is in the same boat as we are." Jamie reminded.

"The Battle Commission has made their decision. We just have to accept it." Doc added.

As Ben was wandering across the back of the Gordos, he could feel that there was still plenty of life in the Zoid. He had splurged to get some extra armor plating for Leena's Gordos, and it really paid off here.

He noticed just how much power was used in the weapon that nearly killed this Zoid, and narrowed his one good eye at the prospect of whoever could've had something that powerful. It was someone that this team knew very well, despite not having met very many members face to face.

"I'm not one hundred percent certain, but it looks like the Gordos was shot with a 60 mm Hyper Laser Gun." Ben informed.

"Right, so the Zoid that did this has some serious firepower." Doc said before adding "It's a serious assault, right?"

The video phone for the hangar started beeping, and doctor Toros went to answer it. When he did, a judge from the Zoid Battle Commission appeared on the screen. Bearing good news for the Blitz Team, might I add!

 **"Attention Blitz Team. The Zoid Battle Commission has scheduled a rematch to make up for the cancelled match earlier this week! The time and place will be..."**

As doctor Toros got the information on the next battle, Ben got off of the Gordos and went to the hatch that led to some of the more important functions. Ben started messing with some of the stuff in there which confused the rest of the team.

"Why're you messing around in there when all of the damage is on the outside?" Brad asked

"Yeah, I mean what's with that?" Leena added.

Ben chuckled at these questions. He figured the curiosity of his teammates would be piqued, and was more than happy to explain everything to them.

"It's a Zoid repair technique I learned from a veteran of the old war. I can reroute the power of the Zoid to up its healing factor, and help it regenerate faster." Ben explained.

He pressed a button on the inside of the Gordos, and closed the hatch.

"That should do it." Ben said.

With his work there done, Ben went off to the lab to run a few tests on whatever Zoid it was that shot down Leena's Gordos. Whatever it was had to have been very powerful to take down a Zoid with such high defensive power. And Ben was determined to find out just what it was.

As Ben was searching through the computer's Zoid database, his thoughts drifted back to the members of the Terra Team. Three of them, Ben was familiar with. However, that fourth guy was nowhere in Ben's memory banks. But that wasn't what concerned him. It was the fact that Gwen, Kevin, and his grandpa Max were even on Planet Zi in the first place. And as registered Zoid Warriors no less!

If they were here, then there's no telling who else would be trying to take Ben back to Earth by force! That means enemies like Helen, Manny, Alan, even Azmuth! If they got ahold of him, they'd drag him back to Earth and force the Omnitrix on him! And he doubted that the Zoids they'd be using would at all be any pushovers. Ben had been working late into the night, and decided to get himself a cup of coffee to keep himself awake as he continued to try and figure out what Zoid it was that the enemy used.

He thought of quite a few different Zoids it might've been. It could've been a Gravity Bison. But that Zoid is incompatible with a 60 mm Hyper Laser Gun. The same could be said with a customized Saber Tiger or a custom made horn Zoid. Both of those Zoids were too small, and lacked the major amount of armor that was on the Zoid. It also had an E-Shield, so it could've been a Genobreaker. But then again, the armor looked as though it belonged to a quadruped Zoid.

Ben scratched his head, and checked the clock on the wall. It read two o'clock, so Ben knew he had to try and get some sleep. But at the same time, he had to figure out what that Zoid was!

"Ugh! What could it have been?!" Ben asked himself.

He rubbed his eyes to try and stay awake, when he heard an odd howl from outside. Ben looked outside of the base and saw a strange canine shadow out by the rocks. He couldn't see what exactly it was due to the dark night sky, but it looked like some kind of Zoid. Glowing yellow eyes faded into the shadows as the Zoid ran away.

Ben was truly amazed. He'd never seen a Zoid like that one, but at the same time it looked familiar. He just couldn't figure out why.

"What was that?!" Ben asked himself.

Ben felt as though he had seen that particular shape somewhere before, but he passed it off as his tired mind playing tricks on him again. Ben once again rubbed his eyes as he tried to stay awake, but a new voice startled Ben awake.

"Hey, Ben."

Our hero turned around to see doctor Toros standing in the computer. He also seemed to be curious about something.

"You're up late." Doc said.

"Just trying to figure out what kind of Zoid it was that shot down Leena's Gordos." Ben explained. "We have no idea when or where it'll strike again, so we need to know what we're up against!"

"Well, I think I may have an idea as to what kind of Zoid it was." Doc explained.

He punched in a few numbers and stuff, and a picture of an Elephant Type Zoid appeared on the screen. Ben's eye widened as he realized that that Zoid was the battle jack! It was none other than...

"An Elephander! Customized to have perfect defense and offense abilities! That has to be the Zoid that took down Leena, and crashed our battle yesterday." Ben said in astonishment.

"Yeah, and something tells me we'll be seeing that thing again very soon." Doctor Toros added.

Both men decided to turn in for the night, but Ben still couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity with that phantom Zoid he heard earlier. Whatever it was...

* * *

 _ **XxX The Next Day XxX**_

* * *

The Hover Cargo made its way to the designated battlefield. It was a deep canyon with very tall walls, and plenty of rocky crags. The perfect place for those Stealth Vipers to launch a surprise attack against the enemy. Doctor Toros had already decided that since the Gordos was out of commission, Jamie would have to go into battle with his Pteras Bomber. Although, Jamie really wasn't very confident about fighting in a Zoid Battle. especially since he spent so much time fixing his Pteras from when the Backdraft first attacked the Blitz Team.

However, one look from Leena was enough to get the boy to accept going into battle. Along with some reassurance from Ben that he'd be okay. The Hover Cargo's catapult opened up and brought out the ramp, and the first up to be mobilized was Ben and the Liger Zero in its base armor.

"Ben Tennyson and the Liger Zero Empire ready to mobilize!" Ben declared.

The Liger was launched, and the blank platform was replaced with the one that had the next Zoid. It was Brad and his Command Wolf.

"Brad and the Command Wolf, all set to launch!" Brad declared.

With that, the wolf was launched into the battle. The final Zoid that was ready to be sent into battle was Jamie and his beloved Pteras Bomber.

"Jamie and the Pteras, all set to launch…" Jamie said nervously.

With a yelp, Jamie and his Pteras Bomber were launched into the battlefield. The next Zoids to appear were three Stealth Vipers that were obviously part of the enemy team. Everyone seemed to be ready to fight, but trouble was brewing up above the battlefield. It was a Whale King belonging to the Backdraft Group. Specifically, Stigma Stoller's transport.

He was currently going over some last minute battle preparations with his best warrior, a man named Sanders. He knew that there was a chance that they might lose, but he was confident in the abilities of the Elephander.

"The Elephander is now complete, sir." Sanders informed.

"Good. Prepare to mobilize, at once!" Stoller ordered. "Sanders, I want you to use the Voice Command Computer System in this fight."

"Vocal commands?! You want me to use vocal commands, sir?" Sanders asked.

Stoller hummed and nodded at his best warrior.

"We need to give our enemy a handicap." Stoller explained.

Sanders was still unsure about going into battle, but he regardlessly nodded in agreement. Even so, he still brought up a sensitive subject with his captain.

"Captain Stoller, sir. Are you absolutely sure that I'm the right man for the job?" Sanders asked.

"What're you getting at?" Stoller asked.

"But captain, you're much more experienced than me as a Zoid Warrior. I'm convinced that you're the only one capable of bringing out the true potential of the High Performance Elephander!" Sanders said.

Stoller merely sighed at this. Sanders was an excellent warrior when on the field, but he really wasn't that bright.

"You overestimate my skills. I've retired as a Zoid Warrior." Stoller said.

Any further arguing had to wait. The Zoid Battle Commission Judge had just made landfall, and was ready to start the battle!

 **"Area scanned. Battlefield, set up!"**

Like in the first battle against the Blitz Team, the Whale King launched a black ball from its nose. The ball careened as it fell to the ground. Its target? The Judge!

 **"The Blitz Team vs. The Viper Team! Battle Mode 0983! Ready...?"**

Before the Judge could start the battle, it was hit by the steel ball that was launched from the Whale King! The Blitz and Viper Teams were shocked at this revelation, but only the Blitz Team was vocal about it.

"THE JUDGE IS HIT!" Ben yelped.

"Who'd do that?!" Brad asked.

"It couldn't be...!" panicked Jamie.

Just as Jamie said that, something landed right on top of where the Judge used to be. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that this was a Dark Judge Capsule. While he rose from the ground, Stoller's Whale King landed in the battlefield. It opened its mouth to lower the platform, and something began to lumber out of the huge transport Zoid. It was the Elephander!

It was just as Ben and Doctor Toros predicted. Mounted to its tusks was the same 60 mm Hyper Laser Gun that beat up Leena's Gordos, and its tusks looked sharp enough to pierce anything! The Elephander let out a loud trumpeting noise like that of an organic Elephant as it challenged the two teams to a Zoid Battle.

Stoller got his Whale King out of there just as a dome made out of black energy materialized overhead. Ben growled as he realized just what he was up against. But what none of the pilots noticed was the same Zoid Ben saw at night had managed to slip through and was now watching them.

"They're putting up a dome?!" Ben asked in outrage.

"The Pteras can't fight with that thing up!" Jamie whined.

Stoller appeared on the video screens of all pilots in the dome, including the Hover Cargo.

"Attention, Zoid Warriors! We, the Elephander Team, challenge both the Blitz and Viper Teams to an unsanctioned battle. You will accept if you know what's good for you!" Stoller challenged.

The Viper Team immediately refused the unsanctioned battle, stating that their policy was to only participate in official battles. The result of doing so wasn't pretty. The Elephander fired its AZ 60 mm Hyper Laser Gun and took down each Stealth Viper in one shot.

"So, you're once again going to force us to fight, huh?" Ben growled. "After how you nearly killed us in your first challenge!"

"We understand your anger for what happened in our first meeting, so we'll offer you a deal." Stoller said. "Should the Blitz Team win, you'll receive some prize money. Five times the usual amount."

For a moment, Ben's anger dissipated. He was surprised by the offer of such a high amount of prize money. With that much money they could pay off all of the Blitz Team's outstanding debts, Ben would be five payments ahead of paying off both the Liger Zero and for the armor units, plus with the money coming in from when Leena allowed him to trade in her old Dibison...

Ben smirked as he realized there'd be enough leftover to get some new weapons for Leena's Gordos, and then some! He got out his Zoid Gear, and placed it in the Liger's computer.

"We accept your challenge!" Ben declared. "Besides even if I wanted to back out, Liger Zero wouldn't stand for it!"

"No way am I gonna let my team down, OR pass up on all that prize money!" Brad said.

Thanks to Ben, Brad was no longer as much of a mercenary as he used to be. However, old habits die hard since Brad still seemed to be pretty interested in the prize money. But Jamie seemed to still be pretty worried.

 **"Will someone PLEASE think clearly about this?! If we lose this battle, they'll confiscate our Zoids!"** Jamie said, panicking.

"Then we'll just have to win!" Ben said before adding "You need to have more confidence in your abilities as a warrior, Jamie."

With all pilots having said their piece, the Dark Judge started the battle procedure.

 _"Battlefield, set up! Battle Mode 0999! The Blitz Team vs. The Elephander Team! Ready...? FIGHT!"_

The gong sounded, and all Zoids on the Blitz Team charged in to fight the Elephander. But Sanders was ready for them, and got the Zoid's trunk into position.

"Elephander, deploy the AZ 60 mm Hyper Laser Gun!" Sanders commanded.

The Elephant Type Zoid positioned its trunk to target the Liger Zero Empire, and fired at the feline Zoid. But each shot missed as Ben had the Liger moving fast enough to avoid all of the shots using the Liger's superior maneuverability to dodge. Brad had managed to get far enough away from the Elephander to fire a few rounds from his Long Range Cannon.

The blasts may have missed, but they were enough to draw the Elephander's attention. It began shooting at Brad who had remained stationary for one reason or another. A shot had managed to strike the Wolf's foreleg and blow it up below the elbow joint.

 **"GAH! I'm hit!"** Brad yelled.

"You gonna be okay?" Ben asked.

"I'm not out of the fight yet! You keep attacking, while I provide cover fire!" Brad ordered.

Ben nodded, and increased the Liger Zero to full speed. The Liger pounced at the Elephander, but the Zoid was too big and Liger couldn't get a good grip with its claws. Fortunately, the Liger's system didn't freeze and it landed on its feet. But Sanders smirked.

" _He's in range."_

"Elephander, Strike Iron Claw." Sanders ordered.

The Elephander made four claws that seemed to be made for gripping spring out from the front of its trunk, and lunged at the Liger Zero. The claws grabbed the Liger by one of its shoulders in a vice grip, and the Liger struggled to shake off the Elephander! Said Zoid lowered its tusks, and Ben came to a horrible realization. Sanders was gonna try and impale Liger Zero!

 **"Hurry, Liger! We gotta shake him off somehow!"** Ben yelled in panic.

Liger Zero roared in agreement, but it was barely slowing them down as it was. This Zoid had so much physical power, it wasn't even funny!

 **"Ben!"**

Jamie move his Pteras Bomber forward a bit, then fired all six missiles from the Bomber Unit on its back. Sanders saw this, and took the appropriate defensive measures.

"Deploy the Hyper Energy Shield." Sanders commanded.

The Elephander stopped pulling the Liger Zero towards its tusks, and fanned out its ears. The front panels of the ears glowed, and a powerful Energy Shield appeared in front of both the Elephander and the Liger.

The results were the missiles being blocked, and exploding harmlessly on the energy field. Once the assault was over, it turned off its shield, and awaited further orders from its pilot. It didn't need to wait long.

"Deploy the AZ 105 mm Beam Gun, and the AZ 115 mm Pulse Laser Gun! Target is the Pteras."

The Elephander did just that, and fired a powerful barrage at the Pteras. Since the poor Zoid couldn't get airborne because of the dome, Jamie couldn't dodge in time. His Zoid was down and frozen before it even knew what hit it. Ben was enraged even further from this.

The Elephander resumed trying to impale the Liger Zero Empire, but it lost its grip when the trunk was shot by Brad's Command Wolf.

"You okay there, Ben?" Brad asked.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Thanks for the assist there." Ben replied.

"Try to stay focused, and we'll find a way to win this fight!" Brad said.

From inside the Hover Cargo, doctor Toros and Leena were watching the match. They couldn't believe how badly their team was losing right now.

"The Elephander has a Hyper Energy Shield, and several powerful Beam Guns! Not to mention all that raw power!" Doctor Toros said to himself. "That Zoid doesn't have ANY vulnerabilities!"

"Oh, dad…" Leena said.

Doctor Toros looked serious for a moment, before smiling like a little kid.

"I'd love to have one of those." Doc said.

"Oh, man! Gee dad, snap out of it!" Leena groaned.

Liger Zero and the Command Wolf continued to fire a relentless barrage at the Elephander, but it did no good. The Elephander's shield was just far too strong for any of their attacks to get through!

"Nothing's working! The Elephander's offense and defense abilities are perfect! This is hopeless!" Brad said in defeat.

"I'm not giving up just yet!" Ben said. "Cover me! I'm gonna go and switch armor units."

"I'll try." Brad said.

Sanders was confused at Ben returning to his team's transport. He wasn't worried, but a small part of him felt he should be concerned.

"Is he trying to escape?" Sanders asked himself. "Elephander, use the Double 45mm Magazines! Target is the Command Wolf."

The Elephander began to launch a rapid fire assault from the gun at the base of its trunk at the Command Wolf. Brad retaliated using firepower from his own cannon. If he was going down, he'd be taking this guy down with him! Or at least, that would've been the plan.

But the back mounted cannon on the Elephander was suddenly shot off! None of them knew where that shot came from... Until they heard the unmistakable howl of a canine Zoid! Something jumped down from the cliffs and landed in-between the Elephander and the Command Wolf!

This Zoid looked like a giant mechanical Doberman dog. It was covered in red armor on its paws, but the rest of its body was covered in armor that was the same shade of blue as Brad's Command Wolf. The eyes in the canopy were yellow, but its equipment was pretty impressive for a Zoid like this one.

On its back were a pair of High Speed Boosters along with a pair of Photon Particle Cannons. Behind those were a pair of odd looking yellow blades called Hell Blazers, and its tail was short and, like Liger Zero's, concealed a weapon that Brad recognized as a Pulse Laser Cannon. It howled at the Elephander in challenge and seemed to be protecting Brad for some reason.

"What the heck?! What kind of Zoid is that?!" Sanders asked in shock.

"A Zeekdober...!" Brad said in awe.

Brad's father had told him about the Zeekdober Zoid when he was just a small child. This highly elusive Zoid was one of the fastest and most powerful Zoids ever to be used in the Guylos Empire, and only showed themselves to worthy pilots. The fact that one was protecting him now must've meant something!

"Thanks for buying us some time, big guy!" Ben said over the inter comm.

Sanders, Brad, and the Zeekdober looked back to see Liger Zero in its Overdrive Armor charging right into battle! The Zeekdober decided to stand guard over Brad while the Liger took out the Elephander. From his Whale King, Stoller was both amazed and confused by this new development.

"Where'd that black and red Liger come from?" Stoller asked himself.

He saw that it was the same Liger from when the battle had started, but it had changed armors. But that should be impossible! Unless…

" _Don't tell me that it's the Ultimate X!"_

 **"Sanders, switch to manual control! You'll never be able to compete against that kind of speed using only voice commands!"** Stoller ordered.

"Yes sir!" Sanders replied.

With the controls switched to manual, Sanders began to try and shoot down the Liger Zero using the 60 mm Hyper Laser Gun. However, the Liger Zero Overdrive was too fast. It started heading towards the wall next to the Elephander, leaving afterimages as it did. Sanders' eyes widened in shock from the sheer speed of the Liger Zero Overdrive.

"How can he be so fast?!" Sanders asked himself.

The Liger began to scale the cliff face, and Ben had a grin on his face as he figured out how he was going to defeat the so-called "Invincible Elephander"!

"You're vulnerable to attacks from above!" Ben declared in victory.

The Liger leapt off the cliff, and locked all weapons onto the Elephander. It was time for the ultimate attack of the Zero Overdrive! Ladies and gentlemen, this is not gonna end well for the Elephander or the Backdraft Group!

 **"Let's go, Liger! HYBRID WARHEAD!"**

The Liger Zero let loose a barrage of gunfire as it landed in front of the Elephander. Liger Zero Overdrive had landed at a point where the Elephander would tank this barrage at point blank range, so the damage that was dealt was even greater than it should've been. When it was done, not only was the Elephander frozen, but Sanders was out cold as well.

 _"What?! But you-dah-rrg-dh-dh- NNOOOOOOOOOOOO HO HO HOOOOOO! *sigh* Game over. The winner is… The Blitz Team…!"_

Ben was breathing hard from using that attack. Ben didn't understand why, but in every battle he would feel the damage that Liger Zero felt. He chalked it up to some sort of dormant alien gene that was beginning to awaken. Stoller appeared on Ben's video screen, seeming to be pleased by the battle results.

"Well done, warriors. You beat the Elephander fair and square. Your prize money is being wired to the Blitz Team account as of now." Stoller said.

"Thank you mister…" Ben trailed off.

"Stoller. Call me Stigma Stoller."

"Well Stoller, I hope we can meet in an official battle someday." Ben said. "And when your warrior wakes up, tell him that I said he was an exceptional warrior."

"Very well. We'll meet again, Ben Tennyson." Stoller said.

The Whale King collected the Elephander, and few off back to base. There were obvious modifications that needed to be made to the Elephander, and Stoller was determined not to lose next time!

* * *

 _ **Ending Narration (Ben): The Marauding Sand Stingray Gang terrorizes the desert in their Sinkers, and now they've decided to come after our Hover Cargo! We'll just have to show them what's what! WHOA, WHAT'S THIS?! IS SOMETHING GOING ON BETWEEN NAOMI AND BRAD?!**_

 _ **Hey, wait a minute! Azmuth?! And his new Omnitrix?! What the heck are YOU doing here?! I've told you already that I'm never using the Omnitrix again as long as I live!**_

 _ **Next time on Ben 10: New Century Zero; The Hover Cargo's in Danger! Azmuth's Attempted Interference! Ready…? FIGHT!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Organized under strict rules and regulations,**

 **Zoid Battles are fighting competitions held on enormous battlefields,**

 **Using mechanical combat units known as Zoids!**

 **The enthusiast young warriors put their pride on the line,**

 **And sharpen their skills against one another!**

 **Battle Mode approved!**

 **Area scanned!**

 **Battlefield, set up!**

 **Ready...?**

 **FIGHT!**

* * *

 _ **The Desert Gang - The Hover Cargo's in Danger! Azmuth's Attempted Interference!**_

* * *

Along the desert countryside, the Hover Cargo was cruising along to a nearby town to pick up an order that Ben had put in with a couple of old friends of his. But they were also running a few programs to register the Zeekdober as a Blitz Team Zoid, since Brad's old Command Wolf had been damaged beyond all repair due to the battle with the Elephander. But it wasn't all bad, since the Zeekdober chose Brad as its pilot.

But there was another reason that the Blitz Team had decided to stop by this town. And that was because of a Zoid Battle Competition happening in this town. Also, Ben knew a couple of old friends of his ran the shop that he ordered this new Zoid from, and was hoping to catch up with them for old time's sake.

It didn't take too long for the Hover Cargo to make it to the edge of the city. Ben was ready to go and pick up his Zoid, but doctor Toros stopped him before he could leave.

"Hey Ben, I've been meaning to ask. Why'd you order this new Zoid when you already have a Zoid?" Doc asked.

"Call it a gut feeling. I think we might end up with a new teammate sometime soon." Ben said. "So, any of you guys wanna come with me to pick up the new Zoid?"

"Sure. I got nothing better to do." Brad said.

"I'll bring the truck around." Leena said.

It was a short drive from the Hover Cargo to the city. On the way, Ben had a smile on his face at the prospect of visiting a couple of old friends. Pretty soon, they made it to a shop that had a logo that had a Raynos Zoid on it. A shop that exclusively sold flying Zoids.

"So this is the place that has the Zoid you ordered, Ben?" Brad asked.

"Sure is! This place is famous for selling airborne Zoids." Ben replied.

The team walked into the shop, and was surprised by all of the aerial Zoids that were on display. There were Zoids like Pteras Radome, Raynos, Redler, even the occasional Storm Sworder. There were also quite a few custom model Zoids here that were either not the Zoid's original colors, or they had customized weaponry.

Some had additional Missile Pods, one had twin Gatling Rifles, and one of them had a set of Anti Air Beam Guns. Suffice to say, Brad and Leena were thoroughly impressed by what they were seeing.

"Man, when you said that this place was famous for its flying Zoids, you weren't kidding!" Leena said.

"Ben? Is that you?" asked a new voice.

Ben and the others looked to see an elderly woman who looked to be in her mid sixties walk over. Her white hair and wrinkly, brown skin along with the look in her eyes showed that she had both age, and experience on her side. Almost as if she used to be a warrior of some kind.

Next to her was an elderly man that looked to be a little bit older than the woman. He too had brown skin that had defined wrinkles, but he also had spiky grey hair that definitely showed his age.

"Moonbay, Irvine! Good to see you guys again!" Ben said in greeting.

"You know these guys?" Leena asked.

"Of course I do. Moonbay and Irvine taught me everything I know about Zoid repair." Ben replied.

Irvine and Moonbay saw the damage that had been done to their young protégé, but they knew better than to pry. So, they decided to exchange pleasantries for now. After all, it has been well over a few months since they've seen him.

"Good to see ya again, m'boy!" Irvine said as he and Ben shook hands.

"You look like you've been doing well." Moonbay added, giving Ben a hug.

"Sure have, old timers!" Ben said jokingly. "I finally got myself a Zoid of my own, and joined a team!"

"Well, congrats to ya! And who are these two?" Moonbay asked.

Ben waved Brad and Leena over. They were a bit apprehensive about doing so, but neither wanted to be rude.

"Moonbay, Irvine, I'd like you to meet two members of the team I joined. This is Brad Hunter, and my girlfriend Leena Toros." Ben said, taking hold of Leena's hand.

"Well, it's always good to meet new folks. I'm Moonbay, and this is my husband Irvine." Moonbay introduced.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Brad said. "Now, where's this Zoid Ben ordered?"

"Right this way." Irvine said.

The elderly man grabbed his clipboard that had the information on Ben's order, and led the team to the Zoid. What Brad and Leena saw was something akin to a work of art.

It was a flying Zoid that resembled a mythical phoenix. It flew using a pair of Magnesser Wings, It had its own set of Downforce Stabilizers like the Liger Zero, and it seemed to have some customized weaponry on it. The main body was bright red while it also had some orange and yellow, giving the Zoid the appearance of being on fire. It also had green eyes in the canopy. Its wings were folded back since it wasn't active yet.

All in all, this Zoid was gorgeous! Leena and Brad were silently wondering how Ben was able to afford a Zoid like this one, let alone the customized weaponry that it had.

"Alright, let's see here… Fire Phoenix Zoid for Ben Tennyson. Specialized order of custom weapons includes twin Gatling Rifles, and Assault Missile Pod, as well as specially made Retractable Laser Blades in the wings." Moonbay read off. "Special order equipment includes… a set of Ion Boosters, twin E-Shields, a 3D Radar system, as well as reinforced armor in various areas. Was that everything you ordered Ben? As much as I hate to say it, my memory ain't what it used to be."

"Sounds right. That's everything." Ben said.

"But how's that Zoid even going to fly with all of that heavy gear attached?" Brad asked.

"Relax there, sonny boy. Ben had these weapons specially made to be lightweight and aerodynamic so they don't inhibit the Fire Phoenix's abilities in and out of combat." Irvine explained.

"Now that's using your head!"

Everyone turned to the source of the new voice, and saw that it was someone else. It was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She had long seafoam green hair that reached her mid back with two bangs framing her flawless face. Her skin was dark tan, and she had stunning emerald green eyes. Her demeanor seemed to be somewhat lazy, but the Blitz Team could sense that she had plenty of skill to back up her lazy appearance.

She was wearing a maroon flight suit, and she seemed to be quite knowledgeable when it came to airborne Zoids. Ben also seemed to recognize her right away.

"Pierce? Is that really you?" Ben asked.

"It's been awhile, mister Tennyson." Pierce said.

"Ben, just who the heck is this?" Leena asked, feeling slightly jealous.

Ben noticed the hostility from his girlfriend, and decided to let them know the full story as soon as they got back to the Hover Cargo. Leena deserved to know so that she wouldn't get the wrong idea.

"Leena, Brad, this is Pierce. She's an old friend of mine, and an expert on aerial Zoids like the Pteras and the Fire Phoenix." Ben said. "As for how we know each other? I'll tell you guys the whole story when we get back to the Hover Cargo. I'd rather explain things to the whole team so I don't have to repeat myself."

"I'll hold you to it, mister!" Leena said.

"If you guys are done, let's head to the front desk and take care of the paperwork for the Fire Phoenix." Brad said, getting a little impatient.

Everyone nodded, and headed around to the front of the store. While Ben took care of signing the paperwork, Brad and Leena were looking at some Anti Zoid weapons that might come in handy some day. It didn't take long for Ben to finish up with the paperwork.

"And done! That should take care of everything." Ben said.

"Eeyup! Looks like it." said Moonbay. "I'll go load up the Fire Phoenix onto my trusty Gustav, and we'll get it right to your transport."

"There's still one thing that's bugging me about this." Brad said.

"What's that, Brad?" Ben asked.

"How were you even able to afford a Zoid like the Fire Phoenix in the first place?" Brad asked.

Ben shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a feeling Brad would ask something like that.

"Well you see, in our battle against the Elephander I spoke to that Stoller guy and he let me keep the AZ 105 mm Beam Gun and the AZ 115 mm Pulse Laser Gun that the Zeekdober shot off of the Elephander. I fixed them up, sold them to a contact I know, and used the money I got from the guns and from my own account to buy the custom made Fire Phoenix Zoid." Ben explained. "Nearly cleaned me out, it did."

"Yeah. But we aren't that mean!" Moonbay said. "Irvine and I gave him a nice discount as a thank you for all of the good business we've done in the past."

"Well that explains a lot." Leena said.

Suddenly, a noise that sounded like a fast moving Zoid came from outside the shop. And it was getting closer. That's when two Ray Type Zoids called Sinkers sped past the shop. They were moving so fast that they broke all of the windows in the shop! Even the glass for the display cases!

Ben was not happy in the least about that! Irvine and Moonbay were like family to Ben, and he wasn't about to let these yahoos wreck their shop, or the town!

"Who were those guys?!" Leena asked. "They shouldn't be driving their Sinkers through town like that!"

"It's the Sand Stingray Gang." Irvine said. "They've been terrorizing our city for a long time now. I'd go out there and take care of them myself using my Lightning Saix, but I'm just too old to pilot the Saix like I used to."

"Well then, WE'LL just have to take them down in your place!" Ben said.

"How?" Irvine asked. "You left your Zoids behind. And the Fire Phoenix isn't combat ready yet!"

"Well then, how much for that Anti Zoid Rifle I saw in your display?" Brad asked.

Moonbay sighed knowing how stubborn Ben could be. But she smiled knowing that it was one of his best qualities. Plus the fact that he had back up didn't hurt. So she grabbed the rifle, and placed it on the counter. It was big enough for a human to fire without the aid of a Zoid, and looked like a military Sniper Rifle.

"Well, I guess we can just charge you for the ammo. We've been meaning to get rid of this old gun anyway." said Moonbay. "But y'all be careful out there, ya hear?"

"Thanks. And don't worry, we'll be fine." Brad said. "Ben, you drive and I'll shoot!"

"Roger dodger!" Ben said.

The two boys ran out to the truck to try and intercept the Sinkers, but Pierce had another idea.

"Tell me, do you think it would be okay if I borrow your Lightning Saix for a moment?" Pierce asked.

"Follow me!" Irvine said with a nod.

Meanwhile with those Sinker pilots, they were blazing through the streets of the city causing hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars worth in property damage. They didn't even care if anyone got caught in the crossfire! They just cared about their own enjoyment in this whole dog eat dog situation!

However, they were a bit startled to see a black and red Lightning Saix Zoid with yellow-orange eyes in the middle of the road. This was the same Lightning Saix that Irvine piloted in the war, but it was Pierce was actually the one piloting the Cheetah Type Zoid. And while she might not be as well versed in land Zoids, she knew how to handle a Zoid like a Lightning Saix just fine.

 **"Get outta the way! Move it, punk!"** yelled one of the pilots.

"You think I'M a punk?" Pierce asked. "The only punks I see are you two juvenile delinquents."

Pierce shot a blast from the cannon mounted on the Lightning Saix's back, and hit the blue Sinker. It crashed into a tree with its computer system frozen. Unfortunately, she missed the red colored Sinker. The pilot tried to get away, but he was intercepted by Ben and Brad in the truck.

Brad had the Anti Zoid Rifle at the ready. He took aim, and fired a single shot at the last Sinker. It hit its mark, and the Sinker stopped dead in its tracks smoking and frozen.

"That's the last one. Nice shooting, Brad!" Ben said.

"Thanks. All those years as a merc really paid off." Brad replied.

A few minutes later, the local police showed up and took those two members of the Sand Stingray Gang into custody. Irvine, along with Leena and Moonbay met up with them to pick up Irvine's Lightning Saix and to deliver the Fire Phoenix to the Blitz Team.

"I'm impressed, Pierce." Irvine complemented. "For someone who doesn't often use land based Zoids, you sure handled yourself well against those Sinkers!"

"Thanks, but it was all just luck." Pierce replied.

"Hey Pierce, why don't you come with us to the Hover Cargo?" Ben asked. "It'd make explaining things to everyone a lot easier."

"Sure. I'm good with that." Pierce said.

Unknown to our young warriors, another member of the Sand Stingray Gang was watching the events go down from an alley. He had been lucky enough to avoid detection as he made his way to the gang's base. It was an old Whale King in the middle of the desert, but the interior still worked perfectly.

"Magnier! Keyshawn and Juuban were both busted in Romeo City!" the man reported.

Magnier, a man with black eyes and greenish blue hair, turned around in his chair to face the scout. Just to save some time, we'll call the scout... Well, Scout. Mainly because I can't think of anything better.

"What did you say?" Magnier asked.

He was not pleased with this news, but remained calm at least.

"Some Zoid Warriors confronted them, and got 'em busted!" Scout said.

Magnier still didn't look pleased. But when he heard about the fact that it was Zoid Warriors that did it, his displeasure rose through the roof.

"Then those "warriors" are gonna pay!" declared Magnier.

* * *

 _ *****With the Blitz Team*****_

* * *

The Hover Cargo was moving through the desert as they moved to the city that was hosting the Battle Royale, and Pierce was also with them. Right when everyone had arrived back at the Hover Cargo with the Fire Phoenix, Ben sat down in the meeting room with the whole team and explained his past with Pierce.

It turns out that during his time as a Junk Dealer before he joined the Blitz Team, Ben was passing through a town when he saw Pierce being pinned to the ground by two sleazy looking men. Our favorite Liger pilot quickly realized that those men were gearing up to rape Pierce. So, Ben ran in and beat the living snot out of those two would-be rapists, and got them arrested before anything bad could happen to Pierce.

Pierce had been traumatized by what had happened, and ended up clinging to Ben like a lifeline for a few weeks. This in turn led to the two of them learning more about each other, and developing a good freindship.

When Ben was done talking, he saw the various looks that the team had. Brad looked like he wanted to kill something, Leena looked both revolted at what had nearly happened and at the same time looked relieved that Ben had stopped them. Jamie looked ready to tear something apart, and doctor Toros looked proud of Ben for stopping those men.

"You did a good thing stopping those men, Ben." Doc said.

Doctor Toros turned to Pierce. He saw how she was looking at that Fire Phoenix Ben had bought, and knew that an extra aerial Zoid pilot would be good for the team. If Jamie ever went into battle and got shot down, they'd have a contingency plan at least.

"You know, Pierce, the Blitz Team does have room for another pilot." Doc said. "How would you like to join? This way we'd have an additional air Zoid Pilot, and you'd be able to catch up with Ben. So, what do ya say?"

Pierce thought about the good doctor's offer. While she preferred to be a loner, the prospect of joining a team that had Ben as a member was too good to pass up!

"Alright, I'll do it. But I'll need a Zoid of my own." Pierce said.

"That shouldn't be a problem." Ben said. "I have a feeling that you and the Fire Phoenix would be a perfect match for each other."

Pierce nodded, and everyone went to go and do their own thing. Ben went to get Pierce acquainted with her new Zoid, while Brad went to talk to Naomi who had shown up sometime during Ben's story. When Ben and Pierce got down to the hangar, they saw someone that Ben honestly hoped to never see again.

It was a humanoid frog with wrinkly, grey skin, bulbous green eyes with rectangular pupils, appendages on his upper lip that resembled a mustache, four fingers on each hand, and three toes on each foot. He was wearing a green and black combination of a Greek toga and an Aztec battle dress with silver armor on his arms and legs. But the strangest thing about him was that he was only six inches tall.

He was standing on the control pad for the scaffolding of the Hover Cargo with something next to him. It looked like a very sleek wristwatch that was white and green with a square faceplate that was black, and had two green lines that formed an hourglass shape. Ben immediately recognized the device as the new Omnitrix, and his face darkened considerably.

"Azmuth… I thought I told you that I wanted nothing to do with your new Omnitrix!" Ben said in anger.

"Omnitrix?" Pierce asked.

"I'll tell you about it later." Ben said to Pierce. "Why don't you go and check out your new Zoid, while me and frog man over there have a little chat?"

Pierce didn't like being left in the dark about this, but she knew better than to pry. Plus, she didn't wanna be on the receiving end of Ben's anger. So she went up to get the Phoenix ready for combat. When she was in the cockpit of the Fire Phoenix, Ben turned back to Azmuth who wasn't at all fazed by Ben's obvious anger. He merely walked up to the boy while leaving the Omnitrix on the control panel.

"Benjamin Tennyson, I know that you are upset with me. You have every right." Azmuth said. "However, I am not here to force you to accept the Omnitrix and return home."

"There is NO WAY I'm ever gonna go back to Earth or take the new- Wait, what?" Ben asked.

Ben silently wondered if his hearing had gone bad before his time, but Azmuth merely smirked.

"You heard me correctly. I have been observing you and your interactions with the people of this planet for some time, Ben. Watching you and the Blitz Team in these Zoid Battles has opened my eyes to the truth." Azmuth said.

The Galvan Scientist turned to the Omnitrix, snapped his fingers, and in a flash of blue the Omnitrix was back on Galvan Mark II. He turned back up to Ben, and continued his explanation.

"I've come to realize that your true calling in life is not being Earth's protector. But rather, you are to be the greatest Zoid Warrior that Planet Zi has ever seen! You and Liger Zero are destined for great things, Ben. Never forget that." Azmuth said.

Ben was greatly touched by the Galvan's speech. He had honestly thought that Azmuth was just like the rest of the people of Earth, but boy was Ben wrong about that! It turns out that Azmuth was on Ben's side all along! Just like Paradox!

"Thank you, Azmuth." Ben said. But if you aren't here to force me to use the Omnitrix, then why are you here if you don't mind me asking?"

With a snap of his fingers, Azmuth's attire was replaced with safari gear like one would wear in Africa. He was smiling at the prospect of something.

"I merely came here to wish you good luck in this world, and to study the behavioral patterns of the Wild Zoids that live here on Zi." Azmuth said. "Good luck with your future battles, Ben!"

With that said and done, Azmuth teleported to a different part of Planet Zi. Ben stood there in silence before letting a ghost of a smile grace his features. Ben was glad that at least Azmuth and Paradox were on his side. But Ben couldn't shake the feeling that something really bad was going to happen today.

* * *

 _ *****Romeo City*****_

* * *

Smoke was rising from the jail house of Romeo City. The Sand Stingray Gang had just broke in and took out all of the guards as they went to free Keyshawn and Juuban. Thankfully, the guards were unconscious but alive. They managed to get the cell doors open, and the two Sinker pilots waltzed out of their cells.

"Sorry about that, Magnier." Keyshawn apologized.

His apology was cut short as Magnier literally bitch slapped both Keyshawn and Juuban to the ground. The leader of that band of juvenile delinquents truly didn't look happy with his two cohorts for getting arrested.

"Keyshawn, Juuban, you should know what you have to do." Magnier said.

"WE GO AFTER THOSE NO GOOD WARRIORS!" Juuban replied.

"Make them pay!" Keyshawn added.

Magnier smirked as the two henchmen understood what they had to do to redeem themselves.

"Precisely." Magnier said. "Alright you guys, let's get a move on! We're the Sand Stingray Gang, and we'll show those guys what happens when someone crosses our paths!"

Voices of agreement resounded through the halls as Magnier smirked. He was ready to tear up these warriors who dared to meddle in his gang's affairs.

* * *

 _ *****With the Blitz Team*****_

* * *

Brad was looking up at his Zeekdober in the Hover Cargo's launch bay. He still couldn't believe he had a new Zoid partner like this one. Let alone that it actually chose him as its partner. Ben and Pierce had finished getting the Fire Phoenix ready for combat and got both the Fire Phoenix and Pierce registered for the Blitz Team.

"You know, Dober? If anyone were to tell me that I'd have an actual partner Zoid before my battle with the Elephander, I'd probably get them thrown in the loony bin. But now, I know that it really could happen." Brad said to his Zoid.

The Zeekdober let out a low yip in agreement at what its partner had said. Even it had to admit that Zoids having souls did sound a little crazy.

"Hey, Brad. Whatcha doing?" Naomi asked.

Brad looked over to see Naomi walking over to him.

"Naomi." Brad said in greeting.

"Ben and the others invited me over for dinner. I must've arrived a little early, because it's still not ready. So I thought I'd get up, and have a look around." Naomi explained.

"Oh yeah?" Brad asked.

Naomi looked up at Brad's Zoid with a look that said she was impressed. She'd never seen a Zoid like this one before, so it was pretty exciting to see.

"What kind of Zoid is that?" Naomi asked. "And what happened to your old Command Wolf?"

"It's a Zeekdober. Unfortunately, my Command Wolf was damaged beyond all repair in a battle against the Backdraft Group. But this Zeekdober saved my life." Brad explained. "So how's your Gun Sniper? Still relying on your Long Range Sniper Rifle?"

"Yup! The Gun Sniper specializes in long range combat." Naomi said.

"That so?" Brad asked. "Nice theory, but if someone gets in close you're done for."

Naomi just put her hands on her hips in response to this.

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen!" Naomi said arrogantly.

Brad laughed a little bit at Naomi's declaration. She reminded Brad of himself when he was a rookie pilot. That kind of thinking had gotten him beat more times than he could count.

"You're pretty cocky." Brad said.

"What was that?" Naomi asked indignantly. "I don't like the sound of that. YOU'RE the cocky one! I bet you even think you're going to beat me in the battle royale tomorrow."

Brad didn't say anything. He may be a bit overconfident in his skills, but even he knew better than to underestimate an opponent. Especially an expert sniper like Naomi.

"You better watch your back! 'Cause I'm making it a top priority to take you out of the competition first!" Naomi declared.

Both pilots yelped as the Hover Cargo started to shake violently. Looking at the exterior, we can see that someone is firing laser blasts at the transport Zoid. Suddenly, Sinkers started to rocket off of the cliff side as they kept firing!

"Payback time! LET'S GO!" Magnier shouted.

The Hover Cargo started moving to try and get away from all of the Sinker Zoids. But the Sand Stingray Gang was hot on their tail. It was a seemingly hopeless battle, and the Hover Cargo was taking a lot of damage.

 **"Yeah, you better run! You're gonna pay for getting me busted!"** yelled Keyshawn.

 **"No one messes with the Sand Stingray Gang!"** added Juuban.

The Sand Stingray Gang continued their relentless assault on the Hover Cargo, not even caring whether the people inside lived or not. While they were firing, Jamie and Leena got ready to man the back mounted laser turrets on the Hover Cargo. The screen turned on to show them just who they were firing at.

"It's those same gangsters that Ben, Brad and Pierce went after earlier today!" Leena said. "They must've caught wind of their actions, and want revenge. Too bad they underestimated how much ammo I have!"

"Uh, Leena? Don't you think you should tone down on the ammo just a bit?" Jamie asked.

"NO WAY!" was Leena's response.

She pulled the trigger, and began to fire a relentless barrage at the Sinkers. Unfortunately, they were too fast to shoot down! Even Jamie was hard pressed to hit even ONE of the enemy Zoids!

"BEN AND BRAD, HURRY! GET THE ZEEKDOBER AND THE LIGER OUT THERE, NOW!" Doc ordered. "With all this extra weight, I can't speed up the Hover Cargo!"

Ben and Brad got into their Zoids so that they could help to fend off these Sinkers. Ben didn't even think to question the fact that doctor Toros had referred to them as dead weight cargo.

 _"I'll deal with him later."_ Ben thought to himself.

"Hurry and launch, Ben! I can't hold these guys off forever!" Leena ordered.

She turned her turret to try and shoot some of the Sinkers that were trying to flank them.

"They're too fast! The best I can do is try to blanket them with constant fire!" Jamie said, attempting to shoot them down.

Things were really looking bleak for our favorite team. These Sand Stingrays were absolutely relentless in their assault!

Within the Hover Cargo, Ben was just changing the Liger's armor to one of its conversion units. The black and red armor and all of the weapons that were on this version showed that it was Liger Zero Overdrive that was chosen for this battle. High speed and plenty of firepower was sure to get the job done this time!

It didn't take long for them to launch, and pretty soon Ben and Brad were heading off to help the others. Naomi was having a tough time against these Sand Stingrays. Her Gustav wasn't built for situations like this, and she was taking a serious beating.

"Man, this stinks! I wish I had time to pull over so I could get into my Gun Sniper." Naomi complained.

Ben and Brad, meanwhile, were near the Hover Cargo at the time, but they could still see that Naomi needed help. So Ben came up with a plan to protect both Naomi, and the Hover Cargo at the same time.

"Brad, you go and cover Naomi! I'll stay and protect the Hover Cargo!" Ben ordered over the comm link.

"Roger that." Brad replied.

The Zeekdober poured on the speed, and went on ahead to help Naomi. But Zero Overdrive turned around to help protect the Hover Cargo. They charged at the Sinkers, and hit it with a claw strike that almost took off one of its wings. The Sinker froze, and Liger Zero Overdrive soon had those Sinkers after him.

Meanwhile, Naomi was still taking a beating on the edge of a ravine. The Sinkers seemed to be determined to send her over the edge, and possibly kill her.

However, those hopes were dashed when they were hit by blasts that belonged to twin Photon Particle Cannons. Brad and the Zeekdober had arrived just in time to save Naomi's bacon this time. The Zeekdober caught up to the Gustav, and Brad knew he had to get Naomi combat ready.

"Naomi, move it! Get into your Gun Sniper, now!" Brad ordered.

"Thanks Brad, I owe you one for this!" Naomi said. "Here goes!"

The Gustav pulled over and Naomi rushed to get into her Gun Sniper before more of those Sinkers showed up. Unfortunately, neither warrior noticed that Magnier and more of his goons showed up at the top of a second cliff right above them. Magnier smirked cruelly as he planned a surprise attack on the unwary warriors.

 **"Now's our chance! Let's go!"**

Naomi just got into her Gun Sniper and closed the canopy, when suddenly a barrage of missiles struck her and Brad. They grunted due to the impact, and fell over the edge along with the Gustav. The Sand Stingrays seemed to be happy about that.

"That was just an appetizer! This'll show you to mess with the Sand Stingrays!" Keyshawn said.

The Sinkers went down into the ravine to check and make sure that Brad and Naomi were dead, but when they got there, all they found was…

"Just a Gustav?" Keyshawn asked.

He cried out as his Sinker was hit out of seemingly nowhere. Magnier saw this, and knew he had to get his men out of there fast.

 **"Spread out!"** Magnier ordered.

The Sinkers tried to get out of the way and regroup, but a lot of them were being shot down. This was in no way a good thing for the Sinkers. But seeing that the bullets were coming out of nowhere, Magnier came to a conclusion.

"Snipers!" Magnier said in realization. "You seem to be mistakenly under the impression that we're a bunch of pushovers!"

While the Sinkers tried to regroup as more of them were shot down, the camera shifts to within the forest to reveal that Naomi was indeed sniping at them. Brad didn't like the fact that they were remaining stationary like this. It made them too much of an easy target for these Sinker pilots.

"We should make a run for it while they're panicked. You think?" Brad asked.

"Escape?! Are you serious?!" Naomi asked incredulously. "I'm not going anywhere until I've taken care of every last one of these cockroaches! You go ahead and run if you want."

"Don't be a fool! Think of the numbers we're up against!" Brad said.

"Oh, I've done the math. I'm way ahead of you!" Naomi said arrogantly.

Brad and Naomi grunted as they were shot at. The Sinkers had discovered their location as the remainders of Magnier's group. And they were shooting like a bunch of mad men! Oh, wait… THEY ARE A BUNCH OF MAD MEN!

"They've escaped into the forest. Set the woods on fire!" Scout ordered. "No one gets away!"

The Zeekdober and the Gun Sniper remained stationary as Brad and Naomi were under heavy fire. Brad and Naomi grunted as the shots rocked their Zoids too much and caused them a bit of bodily damage.

"Naomi, it's way too dangerous! Let's get out of here, while we still can!" Brad urged.

Naomi growled as she switched from her sniper cockpit to the main controls. If there was one thing the Red Comet hated more than losing, it was running away.

But just as she got to the main controls, she noticed a cliff that was high enough above the trees to serve as a good vantage point. She smirked as she knew she could still pull out a win from this!

 _"There's a target I can't pass up!"_ Naomi thought to herself.

She had her Gun Sniper jump into the air, and Brad saw where she was heading. He immediately knew exactly what the red haired woman was planning to do, and didn't like it one bit!

 **"Come back, Naomi!"** Brad ordered. **"You can't win any medals out here!"**

But Naomi wasn't listening. She activated her Gun Sniper's boosters and boosted her way up to the top of the cliff.

 **"Want a fight, do ya?"**

Naomi's Gun Sniper managed to make it to the top of the cliff, but she ran into an unforeseen problem when she got to the top. Magnier and his Sinker had been there waiting for her! Naomi froze in place as she realized that she was done for.

 _"Oh no!"_ Naomi thought to herself.

 _"Surprised? I bet you didn't expect any close range combat."_ Magnier thought cruelly.

The leader of the desert gang fired at Naomi with the intent to kill his target, but they didn't hit the Gun Sniper. Brad and his Zeekdober had leapt in front of Naomi, and shielded her from the assault. Brad grunted as he took some damage from a few shots that hit pretty close to the cockpit.

 **"No! BRAD!"** Naomi cried.

Brad didn't say anything. Instead, he had the Zeekdober turn towards the Sinker and fire at it using his Photon Particle Cannons. The shots hit home, and Magnier grunted as his Sinker was damaged but not frozen yet.

 **"Now's your chance to run, Naomi! Move it!"** Brad ordered.

"I hear ya." Naomi said in understanding. "Thanks, Brad."

The Zeekdober and Gun Sniper turned around, and leapt off the side of the cliff to try and get away. But Magnier wasn't having any of it.

 **"NO CHANCE! YOU'RE TRAPPED!"** Magnier shouted in anger.

He tried to follow, But Brad stopped him using the Zeekdober's Smoke Discharger. The smoke provided them enough cover to retreat and try to regroup. Magnier was not happy about this at all.

"Grrr! How DARE you even attempt to damage my Sinker?" Magnier asked out of rage. "You'll regret that, you losers!"

* * *

 _ *****With Ben and the Others*****_

* * *

Ben roared as he opened fire against the Sinkers with Liger Zero Overdrive's Assault Gatling Gun followed by a few shots from his AMD Double Barreled 20 mm Beam Cannon. However, even though Ben was taking some of them down, the Sinkers just had too many thugs on their side. Ben grunted as he took a few shots from the sides as the Sinkers circled the Liger while wearing him down with controlled bursts.

"Damn it! There's too many of these pests!" Ben said to himself. "Maybe I should've used one of my other armors to fight these guys."

Meanwhile in the Hover Cargo, Pierce was looking at the monitor to the outside. She had the Fire Phoenix, but it wasn't combat ready yet. Her eyes narrowed in anger at the cheap tactics that these Sinkers were using against Ben and the others.

 _"DAMN! Why do I have to be the useless one?"_ Pierce mentally asked herself. _"If only the Phoenix was ready for combat…"_

"Hey, Pierce!" called doctor Toros. "I just finished installing the Fire Phoenix's Combat System. Get out there and give Ben and Brad some back up!"

"You got it, doc!" Pierce said.

She smiled as she ran to the hangar to get into her Zoid. She felt a certain connection to the Fire Phoenix when she first got into the cockpit, and knew that like Ben and the others, she too had found her Zoid partner. And now it was time for them to join the others in combat.

As the canopy to the Fire Phoenix's cockpit closed, Pierce gently patted the controls of the Zoid.

"I hope you're ready to take them down, Phoenix. Because these Stingrays just messed with the wrong team!" Pierce said.

The eyes of the Fire Phoenix glowed brightly, and it reared its head back as it released a loud, piercing screech.

But on the outside, Ben was now trying to take out the remaining Sinkers using the shoulder mounted Missile Pods on the Liger. But each shot missed its target. He and the Liger were taking even more damage than before.

"This sucks! There's too many of these bastards!" Ben said to himself.

"Ben, stay right where you are! I don't want to hit you by mistake." Pierce said over the comm link.

"Pierce…?"

Out of the night sky, the Fire Phoenix was blazing down from the sky. The Phoenix Type Zoid screeched loudly as it locked onto the Sinkers. Pierce worked the controls, and a set of bright red colored laser blades popped out of the wings of the Zoid.

Activating her boosters, Pierce grunted as she was pushed back into her seat when the Fire Phoenix reached it's enhanced top speed of mach five. Originally hitting a top speed of mach two, Pierce was surprised by the sheer power of the Fire Phoenix's Ion Boosters. But she managed to remain focused enough to slice every last Sinker in half without hitting the ground or killing the pilots.

"Whoa, that's amazing!" Ben said before smiling. "I knew you and the Phoenix were a perfect match, Pierce."

"Thanks, Ben." Pierce said with a smile. "And thanks a bunch to you too, Fire Phoenix. You truly are a one of a kind Zoid!"

The Fire Phoenix screeched in happiness from the compliment it's partner had given it. But it could also sense it's partner's developing feelings for a certain scarred, eye patch wearing pilot on this team. But it would keep quiet about that for now.

* * *

 _ *****With Brad and Naomi*****_

* * *

Brad and Naomi had managed to get to a clearing outside of the forest, and were now resting from the fight. Naomi had also taken it upon herself to patch up a few injuries that Brad had sustained in the fight against those Sinkers.

As she finished bandaging Brad's wounds, she couldn't help but feel guilty. If she hadn't been so stubborn and prideful, Brad wouldn't have been hurt so badly trying to protect her.

"There we go. That should do the trick." Naomi said.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Brad replied.

Naomi narrowed her eyes slightly due to the odd feeling in her chest from being around Brad.

"You're a hard man to figure out. I thought you were a coward, but then you risk your life to rescue me. Now I don't know what to think of you." Naomi said.

Brad just looked at Naomi. In all honesty, he didn't understand why he rescued Naomi either. He just moved the Zeekdober without any conscious thought at the time.

"So witch are you? A coward, or a hero?" Naomi asked.

"Who knows?" Brad replied.

Naomi giggled a bit from Brad's laid back behavior.

"Well whatever you are, I owe you big for saving my life." Naomi said.

"No biggie." Brad replied.

He stood up, knowing that the remaining members of the Sand Stingray Gang were probably on their way.

"Let's go." Brad said.

"Good plan!" Naomi replied.

But before they could go anywhere, Magnier and his remaining gang members appeared in front of them. The two warriors tensed knowing that they now had no way to get to their Zoids and fight back. Magnier laughed cruelly at the two unarmed warriors before him.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to tarnish my reputation as boss of the Sand Stingray Gang." Magnier said. "Trust a bunch of warriors to be so cocky. BUT NOW, YOU'RE ALL GONNA PAY FOR YOUR ANTICS!"

"Oh, no they won't! Wake up and smell the cactus, creep!"

Magnier looked to the top of the cliff to see that Ben and Leena were standing at the top of the cliff. The Liger Zero Overdrive, and the Gordos were both prepared to fight.

"Sorry to throw a wrench into your plans, boss. But we had a little run in with the rest of your gang." Ben said. "But don't worry, they're sleeping it off in the desert as we speak."

 **"WHAT?! That's impossible! W-W-We had you completely outnumbered!"** Magnier panicked.

"Be that as it may, a bunch of thugs like you are no match for a bunch of seasoned warriors like us!" Ben declared. "Hey Leena, Pierce! You girls wanna take out the last of these bozos?"

"With pleasure, baby!" Leena replied.

She carefully aimed her Railguns at the Sinkers, and opened fire. Her precision shooting was perfect to take out these things. And any that tried to get away ended up taken down by Pierce and the Fire Phoenix's twin Gatling Rifles.

Pretty soon, the police arrived in a Whale King with a pair of Gojulas Zoids. The members of the Sand Stingray Gang were taken into custody, but the Blitz Team wasn't completely satisfied with things. And that was for a very specific reason.

"Looks like we're gonna have to back out of the battle tomorrow, huh?" Ben asked.

"I'm afraid so." Jamie replied. "Brad's in pretty rough shape, the Zeekdober needs to be repaired, not to mention the Fire Phoenix is low on ammo. This is gonna cost us big time."

"Tell me about it. This whole trip has been a waste of time!" Brad complained.

"Think so?" Naomi asked. "I'm not so sure."

Brad looked at Naomi in confusion due to what she said. Naomi just smiled at Brad, and our favorite Zeekdober pilot felt his face heat up a little bit. His heart also started to beat a little faster. Ben, Pierce and Leena saw this little reaction, and smirked as they had one thought in mind here.

 _"Fresh blackmail material on our favorite ex mercenary."_ The three of them thought in unison.

* * *

 _ **Ending Narration (Pierce): "Hey Ben, isn't the Tigers Team the first bunch of guys you defeated with your Liger Zero? WHAT?! NOW they've joined up with lightning and a tornado, and are on a fourteen win winning streak?!"**_

 _ **"Okay, this I've really gotta see! And it looks like they've got a fourth member who belongs to a team known as the Terra Team. Ben? Oh dear, he looks pissed! But on the upside, Ben can now show the world his second transformation armor!"**_

 _ **"Next time on Ben 10: New Century Zero; Invasion of the Fierce Tigers - Transform to Zero Percival! Installing Zero Percival. Ready…? FIGHT!"**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids New Century Zero! This disclaimer also applies to all future chapters, so don't be expecting them to appear in any other chapters! Enjoy the show!**_

 _ **New Part of Speech Key**_

"Underlined" = Zoid Speaking to Pilot _ **(This will only happen when a pilot has met their true Zoid Partner for the first time, or when the Zoids are talking to each other alone.)**_

* * *

 **Organized under strict rules and regulations,**

 **Zoid Battles are fighting competitions held on enormous battlefields,**

 **Using mechanical combat units known as Zoids!**

 **The enthusiast young warriors put their pride on the line,**

 **And sharpen their skills against one another!**

 **Battle Mode approved!**

 **Area scanned!**

 **Battlefield, set up!**

 **Ready...?**

 **FIGHT!**

* * *

 _ **Invasion of the Fierce Tigers: Transform to Zero Percival!**_

* * *

It was evening in the desert, and all was quiet. The only light available was from a lantern that was burning for a certain team. It was none other than the Tigers Team. Only they currently weren't feeling much like fierce Tigers. And do you know why? Because they were on a very bad losing streak.

Kirkland and his teammates, Lineback and Omari were sitting around their measly source of light in depression. They may be warriors, but they were losing a whole lot more than they were winning so far. And it showed as the best they could afford for food was cup noodles. And their once prideful Saber Tiger Zoids definitely looked like they had seen better days.

They were pretty banged up. Their armor no longer shone with that once golden radiance, and they had quite a few dents and scratches left in them from the measly repairs that could be done to them. And even though the soul of one of these Sabers wasn't yet awoken, it was evident that this Saber Tiger missed its glory days.

"Man, ten losses in a row! The days where we were called the Fierce Tigers seem like just a dream now." Lineback complained.

"I hear ya. None of this started happening until we were beaten by that amatuer team!" Omari added.

"Lousy Blitz Team! I swear the next time I see them, I'm gonna-"

"That's enough! You're making me lose my appetite, so just shut up!" Kirkland snapped.

He may hate the Blitz Team as much as his partners do, but they didn't have to constantly complain about it. Lineback and Omari just sighed in response. The air was once again heavy with depression, as the team tried to finish their meal.

Lightning suddenly flashed through the sky, causing Kirkland and his team to tense up. They looked up at the sky to see that there seemed to be a storm coming, but there were no reports on storms in the weather that day.

"Hey, you guys. Check out those weird looking clouds." Omari said.

Laughter suddenly started to echo from out of nowhere as the shadow of a custom made Saber Tiger started to appear in the distance. It's eyes glowing with an ethereal look that made the Zoid seem like a ghost. The voice that was laughing before began to speak again.

"A tiger that has lost its teeth is no longer a tiger."

 **"Hey, who's out there?"** Kirkland asked.

"You're no more intimidating than little kittens." the voice continued. "Little stray kittens!"

 **"WHAT?!"** yelled an angered Omari.

 **"Who are you? Show yourself!"** Lineback asked/demanded.

Lightning once again flashed in the sky. The Tigers Team cringed and closed their eyes as the electricity seemed to have gotten stronger from before. When they opened their eyes again, they got a clear picture of what this Saber Tiger was.

It was a type of Saber Tiger Zoid known as a Great Saber, but it was different from the others. While most Great Sabers are red with black armor and silver fangs and claws, this one was pure white with black fangs and claws, and gold colored eyes in the canopy, giving it the appearance of a phantom. Even its weapons were custom colored to be gold instead of the usual steel color.

It let out a roar that was even more menacing than a normal Saber Tiger's. This made the Tigers Team recoil back in both awe and fear. The voice spoke up once again, but this time it was speaking about spiritual stuff.

"Look inside. Never forget how it feels to have the blood boiling in your veins! Never forget the raging spirit… Of the Tiger!" it said.

"The Spirit of the Tiger?" Kirkland asked himself.

"Raging spirit, huh?" Omari added.

"...Spirit of the Tiger…" Lineback said in awe.

The voice continued speaking. It was like it was egging them on. Trying to get them to let out their inner rage. And it seemed to be working.

"Feel the anger! Unleash your almighty roar! YOU… ARE… The Tigers!" the voice said. "The proud… And invincible… **TIGERS TEAM!"**

The lightning continued to flash, illuminating the facial features of the Saber Tiger Zoids. And Kirkland finally got fed up with being pushed around by some random voice in the air.

"Hey, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Kirkland asked impatiently.

"I am your savior." said the voice.

"Our savior?" asked the Tigers Team in usison.

Lightning flashed one more time as the cockpit to this Phantom Saber opened to reveal… Kevin Ethan Levin in all his glory. He seemed to have something in mind for the Tigers team, but as of now I have no idea as to what it is he wants.

But the Tigers Team seemed to have no idea just what they were getting themselves into.

"You mean, you came to help us?" Omari asked.

Kevin stepped out of his Zoid's cockpit, the smirk never leaving his face.

"Eeyup. And I have the right equipment to ensure that you can take down that lousy Blitz Team!" Kevin boasted. "You just have to agree to one simple condition."

"Anything! Just name it!" Kirkland said.

"All you have to do is… Let me join the Tigers Team for a little while." Kevin said. "Now, come on. I've got a contact who can get us the equipment we need."

* * *

 _ *****With the Blitz Team*****_

* * *

The Blitz Team was currently in a match against the Raptor Team, a team composed of Rev Raptor Zoids, and were winning pretty easily. Currently, it was Ben on the field with Leena and Brad providing him with cover fire. The reason? Ben and Liger Zero were currently trying to toughen up using the base Empire Armor.

When doctor Toros asked Ben why he wanted to do that, his answer was a pretty reasonable one. Ben theorized that if he and the Liger became stronger in their base armor, then they'd be even MORE powerful when they used one of the other armor units. Doctor Toros thought that the idea was ludicrous, but he also would hate to see a potentially useful theory be thrown away without testing it.

Ben fired a few shots at an enemy Rev Raptor Zoid, but missed his target. He silently cursed his lack of depth perception. It was throwing off his ability to shoot down the enemy! Thankfully, Ben had some help from his team.

Brad's Zeekdober had managed to shoot down two of the enemy Rev Raptors, sending the last two into a panic. But in their panic, one of the other Raptors got itself shot down by Leena's Gordos.

"Don't worry, Ben. We got your back!" Leena said.

"Let's take out that last Rev Raptor, and grab some lunch." Brad suggested.

"Leave this one to me." Ben said. "I may be a lousy shot, but I can still beat him!"

Before anyone could say anything else, the last Rev Raptor unsheathed its twin Sickle Blades and charged at the Liger Zero Empire. But this is what Ben was hoping for. Ben started to shell the living daylights out of the final Rev Raptor Zoid using the Two Barrel Shock Cannon! And this time, he didn't miss a shot!

The Rev Raptor's computer system froze, thus winning the match for the Blitz Team.

 **"THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE WINNER IS... THE BLITZ TEAM!"**

"We barely won that battle, doc. I don't know if we can keep up with that theory of Ben's without losing any battles." Jamie said.

"It's that kind of childish attitude that makes me wonder if you're even a real warrior, Jamie." Pierce said.

"Huh? What do you mean by that, Pierce?" Jamie asked.

"I mean that you seem to not like the idea of taking risks in a battle." Pierce explained. "It is the duty of every warrior to push themselves beyond their normal limitations. You seem to forget that."

Jamie understood what it was that his fellow flying Zoid pilot was saying, but he prefered to take out an enemy with the least amount of heavy risks. He may not like taking huge risks, but it was better to be cautious than to throw caution to the wind. After all, it was their lack of caution that had been causing that losing streak they had before Ben came along.

Later that day, the team had decided to get the Battle Paperwork taken care of in a nearby town. The team also decided to have lunch at a local restaurant there, but right now it was only Ben, Brad, and Pierce who were there. Leena had went to take care of the Battle Paperwork while the rest of the team got a table for them.

Ben took a sip of his coffee as he thought back to the armor units that he currently had for Liger Zero. While using Overdrive was good, he felt that the time to use one of the other units was at hand.

" _Zero X is the perfect Zoid to use in electronic warfare, but then again if I use Zero Percival I'll be able to cut my way through all enemies that come my way."_ Ben thought to himself. _"Makes me wish I had a fourth armor unit."_

His thoughts soon drifted to those three armor units that his boss was previously going to order. He knew that those transformations did have potential, but they weren't right for his Liger Zero. Ben just had a gut feeling that perhaps those armors would come in handy in the near future.

" _Jager, Schneider, and Panzer…"_ Ben thought to himself. " _Something tells me that those armors would work perfectly, if used on the right Zoid."_

Ben was broken from his thoughts when there was a new arrival at the restaurant. It was none other than... You guessed it. The Tigers Team. And they didn't at all look happy to see the Blitz Team.

"Hey, it's you guys... Who're you again?" Ben asked.

This question made Kirkland and the others fall over anime style. They couldn't believe that the same pilot who humiliated them last time didn't even recognize them! And Pierce seemed to be just as clueless as Ben was in this situation. Fortunately, Brad had the answer that saved the three Saber Pilots remaining dignity.

"They're the Tigers Team, remember?" Brad clarified. "Hey, how've you been?"

The Tigers were stunned for a minute, but they managed to right themselves.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Brad." Kirkland said. "You're as cocky as ever. You've been hanging out with the Blitz Team quite a bit, for a mercenary. You making money or something?"

"If you must know, I've quit the mercenary business." Brad replied. "I've done a lot of thinking on my life choices."

"The Tigers...?" Ben asked.

 **"Yeah, you may not remember us, but we sure as heck remember you guys!"** Omari yelled.

 **"Yeah! You in particular, warrior!"** Lineback added.

Ben started thinking about where he heard about the Tigers Team before. He swore that the name sounded familiar to him, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. That's when he had a flashback of his first ever Zoid Battle with Liger Zero.

"Oh, now I remember! You guys are that team I defeated in my very first Zoid Battle!" Ben said in realization. "I thought you guys would've quit a long time ago."

This comment caused the Tigers Team to growl at our favorite former Omnitrix wielder. And it didn't help that Brad just poured salt into their wounds. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

"Yeah, you guys fell right off the mat." Brad added. "You here for a battle?"

"Yeah. We're gonna start living up to our name, and say goodbye to our losing streak forever!" Kirkland replied.

Pierce merely scoffed at this team. They may have skills, but they were arrogant to a fault. She knew that arrogance, especially in hefty amounts, was the downfall of every Zoid Warrior. She should know. She found that out the hard way many years ago.

Then again, Pierce also knew that it was loads of fun to tease arrogant pilots. She loved to see the frazzled and stupefied looks on their faces from being told off like they were a bunch of immature children. And that's exactly what she planned to do.

"You're pretty arrogant. If I were you, I would've chosen to take the easy way out." Pierce said. "Here's an idea. Why not change your team name?"

Naturally, the Tigers Team didn't like this obvious insult. However, Kirkland was able to stop his two teammates from lashing out and starting something. Unfortunately for them, Pierce wasn't done with her teasing.

"Let's see... How about we just call you the Fuzzy Pandas? Or the Monkey Team?" Pierce mocked. "Because that's really all you are!"

Now that REALLY got on the Tigers Team's nerves. No way were they gonna be called the 'Fuzzy Panda' Team, or the 'Monkey Team'! They're the Fierce Tigers, and they'd prove it in their next match! But that was when the voice of a certain someone made itself known. Someone that Ben thought he was done with for the rest of his life.

"Really, Tennyson? First that pink haired girl is hanging onto your arm, and NOW you've got a girlfriend with ugly green hair? You must be desperate."

The others turned around with Ben's lone eye narrowing in unbridled rage. Kevin had just walked into the restaurant, smirking with greater arrogance than before. However, he was dressed differently from before. He still had in his regular clothing, but now he was wearing a tattered white cloak, and a pair of black tinted goggles that were currently on his forehead. But Pierce was focused on only ONE thing that Kevin had said. And that was the quip about her hair!

"You got a problem with women having green hair, grease head?" Pierce snarled.

There are three things that you should never say to a woman, all you men out there. Never tell a woman she's fat, never call a woman ugly, and NEVER insult the color or style of their hair! Doing ANY of these three things is just asking to get a beating! And Kevin seemed oblivious enough to insult her on all three of these taboo.

"What, are you deaf as well as being ugly? Green hair obviously means that you're a fat and ugly girl who'll never be in a relationship!" Kevin said smugly.

He didn't notice the malicious aura radiating from Ben and Pierce. However, Brad, the Tigers Team, and everyone else in the restaurant did. So they all wisely gave them some space while developing anime sweatdrops of fear on the back of their heads. I mean you would too if you saw how badly that anger twitch in Pierce's eyebrow was.

Ben got up from his seat, grabbed Kevin by his hair which made the Saber Tiger pilot yelp in pain, and started dragging him outside of the restaurant. Pierce got up, and followed after Ben.

"We'll be back in a minute, Brad." Ben said.

That was when Leena walked over to the table. Only for some strange reason, she was carrying a bouquet of white lilies. She looked pretty confused, and looked around for her boyfriend and Pierce.

"Hey, where're Ben and Pierce? Weren't they here with you?" Leena asked.

"Wait for it..." Brad replied.

Our favorite Zeekdober pilot held up a hand, and began to silently count down from three.

Three... Two... One...

 **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"**

Kevin's screams of pain, as well as the sound of fists repeatedly hitting flesh were heard just as Brad finished his count down. Everyone in the restaurant cringed as they heard the stupid pilot receive the beating of a lifetime! Leena and Brad almost felt sorry for Kevin's misfortune... Almost.

When the screams of agony died down, Ben and Pierce walked back into the restaurant with their fists literally steaming from hitting Kevin so hard. They both still had anime tick marks on their foreheads, but at least the evil aura was gone. The two sat down, and calmed themselves before looking back at the Tigers Team. Fortunately, neither Blitz Team member was angry at them.

"Well guys, I wish you good luck in your match today!" Ben said. "You'll probably need it since I heard that the enemy team uses Storm Sworders."

Not really wanting to get themselves killed over something like this, the Tigers Team just nodded in thanks and walked outside to recover their temporary teammate. When they were gone, Ben noticed the flowers in Leena's arms, he grew a little bit miffed that another guy was hitting on his lady.

"So, who gave you those flowers?" Pierce asked.

"I don't know. Some guy just gave me these after saying something about a beautiful woman giving birth to a beautiful daughter." Leena replied. "Then he said something about the weather changing."

"Must've been a total loon." Brad said.

"Yeah, I mean the weather reports said that it was supposed to be clear skies all week." Ben added.

But even though it seemed like a ridiculous motion that the weather was going to change this week, Ben had this feeling in his gut that told him something big was about to go down. Later on, the four members of the Blitz Team were watching the Tigers Team's match with a team of all Storm Sworder pilots known as the Hypersonic Team.

However, the Saber Tiger Zoids seemed to have had a few modifications. The three Tigers that Ben knew belonged to the Tigers Team now sported AT Units on their backs. This allowed for superior firepower on the battlefield, and didn't lower their maneuverability in the least. But they also noticed that Kevin was on their team piloting a white and gold Great Saber Zoid. Ben hypothesized that Kevin had temporarily joined the Tigers Team to gain a little more publicity.

Ben and the others frowned at how the Tigers Team weren't doing very well against the Hypersonic Team. Even Kevin was hard pressed against these Zoids.

"The Tigers are fairly skilled warriors, but their moves are always so predictable." Brad said.

"I'll say! Considering all the shots they've fired, the enemy hasn't taken any damage." Leena added.

"You're right. The enemy has already figured them out." Pierce said. "Wait, the Storm Sworders are charging in."

Just as the aerial Zoid Warrior said, the three Storm Sworders swooped down over the Tigers Team, and knocked them down with a combined sonic boom. The Tigers were down, and their systems were on the verge of freezing up. Brad and the others started to get up from the table while Ben took care of the check.

"So much for their comeback." Leena said in disappointment.

"Yeah. Let's get outta here." Brad added.

"Okay, I know for a fact that I didn't order this much food!" Ben said, looking at the total amount of money needed.

The Blitz Team was stopped from leaving when they heard the boom of thunder outside. They looked out the window to see strange looking storm clouds appearing overhead.

"That's odd. The weather wasn't supposed to change today." Pierce said.

"You're right. Something's not natural about that storm..." Ben thought to himself.

And Ben's suspicions were correct. The Lightning from the storm caused the Tigers to be revived, but the Storm Sworders cockpit controls had jammed from the lightning strikes. Since they couldn't steer, they were easy targets for the Tigers Team. The Judge sounded the end of the battle, and many of the teams were surprised by the results.

 **"The battle is over! The battle is over! The winner is... The Tigers Team!"**

Just about every warrior in the restaurant started cheering for the amazing comeback of the Tigers Team. Even if it might've been a fluke with the weather. But Ben and the others knew better.

"Hmm... There's something fishy about that victory. And for once, it's not cod." Ben said to himself.

* * *

 _ *****Several Weeks Later*****_

* * *

After several weeks, the Tigers Team had achieved one of the longest winning streaks in Zoid Battle history. Fourteen straight wins in a row. This team had become quite famous due to this streak and now had quite a few fans. Although Kirkland seemed to be the only one on the Tigers Team who hadn't let the fame go to his head.

At the Hover Cargo, Ben and the rest of the Blitz Team were trying to comprehend just how the heck that storm just appeared in the middle of the battle like that. It was in no way natural, that much they could agree on. But what they couldn't agree on was the method in which it was formed.

"It could've been someone manipulating the weather using technology." Jamie suggested. "I recently read an article about a scientist developing a device that would allow them to create rain storms in times of drought."

"Yeah, that could be what it is." Brad said. "But what I wanna know is why those Saber Tigers and that Great Saber weren't affected by the lightning."

"Maybe the Tigers Team used something to make their Zoids resistant to electrical strikes?" Leena suggested.

"Unlikely. Even if they were resistant to the lightning, their Zoids would be affected in some way." Pierce said. "Plus, those storms strictly summoned lightning. There was no rain, no thunder, not even the slightest bit of wind! Not to mention that the lightning was specifically going after Zoids that weren't the Tigers."

This situation was a real beard scratcher, that much was certain. It seemed like the Tigers Team was cheating, there was no conclusive evidence that suggested it. How were they going to prove that the Tigers Team was cheating in their battles if they had no proof that suggested it?

Just then, doctor Toros walked into the living room of the base. He was carrying a slip of paper that had something important written on it.

"Good news! The Zoid Battle Commission just announced our next battle!" Doc informed. "Our next opponent is the Tigers Team."

"The Tigers?!" everyone else asked incredulously.

They couldn't believe this! They knew that Ben had splurged using his own account to give weather resistance to their own Zoids, but what about the Liger Zero?! How were Ben and the Liger going to handle this fight against the Tigers Team without some form of protection. That's when Pierce noticed someone wasn't there with them.

"Wait a minute, where's Ben?" Pierce asked.

"He told me he was going out to try and find a new weapon for his Liger Zero, but I don't think he's come back yet." Leena answered.

That was when Ben walked into the living room looking exhausted. He must've been on his feet for quite a long time if he was staggering into the room looking like a zombie. Ben promptly fell onto the couch and fell asleep, much to the shock of the whole team. Ben was usually the most active one on the team, so for him to collapse like this meant that he must've been working harder than usual.

Pierce got up from her spot, and went to a nearby closet to get an extra blanket for Ben. She covered him up, and removed his eye patch so he could sleep better. She lightly traced the scar on his left eye, seeing that the scar itself was still quite vivid. She just didn't understand why her heart raced like it did whenever she was around Ben.

Eventually, she got up and went to her room to sleep it off. It was going to be a long battle tomorrow, and everyone on the team was going to need their rest.

The next day, we find the Tigers Team standing ready for battle at a field of old ruins. Most members looked confident that they would win, but Kirkland looked a big unsure. He knew that using that weather creation technology was dishonorable as a warrior, and that's why he didn't use it. But Kevin, Lineback, and Omari were using it to their full advantage.

 **"Tell me, boys. Are we the 'Fuzzy Pandas'?"** Kevin asked.

 **"No! We're the Saber Tigers!"** Omari replied.

 **"How about the 'Monkey Team'? Is that who we are?!"** Kevin asked.

 **"No! We're the invincible Tigers Team!"** Lineback said.

 **"That's right! We're the Fierce Tigers, and none of these Zoid Warrior wannabes are gonna take us down!"** Kevin loudly declared. "By the time were done with the Blitz Team, Tennyson will be begging to go back to Earth!"

Kirkland knew exactly what Kevin was planning to do to Ben in this battle, and he didn't like it one bit! He could also feel his Saber Tiger's hatred towards the Earthling he was fighting alongside. It was almost as if his Zoid was alive, as crazy as that sounded. He and the rest of the team climbed up into their Zoids, and readied their combat systems just as the Judge landed.

On the enemy team, there was the Liger Zero Empire, the Zeekdober, the Gordos, and the Fire Phoenix. All Zoids on both teams looked ready for a fight.

"Clear skies above, and no changes in weather reported to happen today!" Ben said. "Looks like you guys have fallen out of favor with the gods of weather, huh?"

"Hmph! We'll see about that, Tennyson." Kevin scoffed.

"Yeah, just you wait! Our roar is so powerful, we can summon Lightning at will!" Lineback added.

Just as Lineback finished that statement, the front right leg of Leena's Gordos fell through the ground. She was more worried for her Zoid rather than herself, but it was a challenge to get the Zoid's leg free from the cracked earth around it, but she managed to get it on stable ground once again. If Leena was perfectly honest with herself, she thought Pierce was lucky that her Zoid had flight on its side.

"We've gotta be careful! There's a bunch of buried ruins around here!" Brad warned.

"Greaaaat. Thanks for the advanced warning." Leena said sarcastically.

 **"The Blitz Team vs. The Tigers Team. Battle Mode 0982. Ready...? FIGHT!"**

The Blitz Team and the Tigers Team charged at each other as they geared up for combat. And Pierce was ready to do a little taunting in this fight.

"Come and get us, Fuzzy Pandas!" Pierce teased.

It was the Fire Phoenix, the Liger Zero Empire, the Zeekdober, and the Gordos against three Saber Tiger ATs and a Great Saber. But just as the battle started, dark clouds began to move in. If one were to look very carefully, you could see that there was a Whale King hidden in those "clouds" and sending out this strange black smoke.

A man inside pushed a few buttons, and shot out six steel balls from the nose of the Whale King. These balls hovered in the air, before sparking with electrical energy and sending it into the artificial clouds. The lightning arched down, and struck the Liger, the Dober, and the Gordos. Pierce was lucky enough and skilled enough to dodge all of the lightning.

That's when something really bad happened. The Great Saber and two of the Saber Tigers started to converge on a single target. And that target was...

 **"No! They're going after the Gordos!"** Doc yelled in horror. **"Someone go and cover Leena!"**

Unfortunately, none of the other Zoids could cover Leena since they were too busy trying to stay out of the path of the lightning. It was all they could do to keep their Zoids from freezing up on them. Meanwhile, Kevin, Lineback, and Omari were shooting the Gordos to scrap metal. The Gordos could tank the heavy fire, but Leena was suffering from horrible flashbacks of when her Dibison was destroyed.

Her eyes narrowed in anger at the thought of these Sabers destroying her Gordos like her Dibison was. She roared in primal rage as she locked onto Omari's Saber Tiger.

 **"NOBODY'S GONNA KILL MY ZOID SO LONG AS I'M STILL BREATHING!"** Leena roared.

She fired her Railguns at the Saber Tiger, and sent it flying across the battlefield. It hit the ground hard, and sank into the ground causing its systems to freeze. This did not sit well with Kevin.

 **"Omari!** You're gonna regret that, ya ugly piece of trash!" Kevin said. "Lineback, it's time to bring out the heavy artillery!"

Kevin and Lineback pushed a couple of buttons in the cockpits of their Zoids, and up in the sky something deadly was beginning to "fins" on Kevin's Great Saber and Lineback's Saber Tiger's AT Unit began to glow, sending signals out to the orbs above. The metal orbs within the artificial clouds began to spin at incredibly fast speeds creating gale force winds. These winds soon turned into one of nature's scariest forces of destruction known to mankind.

 **"CYCLONES?!"** panicked Leena.

Meanwhile, in the Hover Cargo, Jamie was monitoring the battle as he usually does. And the radar of the Hover Cargo detected something suspicious within the sky.

"Doc, the radar's detecting something mechanical in those cyclones!" Jamie reported.

Leena screamed as she and her Gordos were picked up by the cyclones, while the Zoid was being heavily damaged in the process.

 **"Leena!"** cried the Blitz Team.

Leena's Gordos fell to the ground hard enough to not only freeze its computer systems, but the impact also knocked Leena unconscious. Ben was seeing red when he found out what happened to his girlfriend.

 **"Leena, no!"** Ben cried. "You're gonna regret that, Levin!"

Ben charged in after the Great Saber with the intent of sending that Zoid to the scrap heap. But Kevin and Lineback didn't plan to make it easy for him. The sent their cyclones to intercept the Liger Zero, and flung Ben aside like an old soda can.

"Ben, follow me!" Brad ordered.

Wordlessly, Ben and Liger Zero followed after Brad and the Zeekdober. But two of the Sabers weren't about to allow their prey to escape.

"Where're we going, Brad?" Ben asked.

"I'll explain later, just follow me!" Brad answered.

But the remaining Saber, Kirkland, was standing his ground and looking up at Pierce and her Fire Phoenix.

"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A ONE ON ONE FIGHT! yOU AND ME AS HONORABLE WARRIORS!" Kirkland challenged. "STAND YOUR GROUND, AND FIGHT ME AND MY SABER TIGER!"

Suddenly, Kirkland felt a second presence in the cockpit with him. He gasped as he felt a sense of warmth and pride filling him up. He heard a feminine voice that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Kirkland…!"

The leader of the Tigers Team looked behind him to see what looked like a semi translucent woman sitting in the backseat of the cockpit. She seemed to be around Kirkland's age, and was wearing animal skins for clothing as well as a cloak that seemed to be made from the pelt of a Sabertooth cat. The head of this cat acted like a hood, covering the top of her head and her eyes while the saber fangs framed her face.

Kirkland seemed to know who it was at first glance, but this woman must've wanted to know for sure.

"Do you know who I am, Kirkland?"

"...Yes. You're my Zoid… My Saber Tiger!" Kirkland said in awe.

The woman smiled as her pilot was correct. She floated over to Kirkland, and placed a clawed hand on the side of his face. She knew that her pilot was a truly honorable man, and wanted to help him win this battle fair and square.

"You have proven yourself to be a truly honorable warrior, Kirkland. Even in times of great hardship, you never fought dirty." she said in happiness before she began to merge back with her Zoid body. "You are truly worthy of being my pilot, and partner in battle! Never forget your raging, honorable Spirit of the Tiger!"

With that, she merged back with her Zoid body and let out a mighty roar as her armor began to change from a golden yellow color to a beautiful snow white with black stripes like a modern tiger. Kirkland smiled as he gripped the controls and gently pet the control pad of the Saber Tiger.

"Let's do this, partner!" Kirkland said.

The Saber Tiger roared as she ran at the Fire Phoenix. Both pilot, and Zoid were ready for an intense battle between land and sky. Fire and Earth. Bird vs. Cat.

Meanwhile Ben and Brad had managed to take out Lineback's Saber Tiger. However, in the process, the man that was piloting the Whale King had overrode the controls of Kevin's Great Saber. This caused the two tornadoes that were created to merge into one, and increase beyond category five in power!

 **"Abnormal weather phenomenon detected! Danger! Danger...! I'M IN DANGER AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGH!"**

The Judge screamed as it was uprooted from the ground with its capsule. Kirkland and Pierce were distracted from their battle as the two of them were caught in the tornado. Their Zoids crashed hard into the ground with both pilots out cold.

 **"PIERCE! NO!"** Ben yelled in worry.

Unfortunately, he and Brad had to make a run for it unless they wanted to get sucked into that twister themselves. Ben was trying to think quickly about his next course of action.

He'd have to switch armor units. But Overdrive's heavy assault abilities would be useless against those kinds of wind speeds. And the Zero X armor wouldn't be able to disable anything with its electrical abilities. That's when it dawned on him.

"Brad, hold your ground for as long as you can!" Ben said before turning towards the Hover Cargo.

 **"Where ya going?!"** Brad asked.

"You'll see soon enough." Ben replied, activating the Liger's Ion Boosters. "Doc, get Percival ready for combat! Zero Percival is more than capable of cutting through that kind of wind speed!"

"I'm on it…" Doc muttered.

He smiled at the choice of armor that Ben had decided on. He knew that Ben was right about one thing. Percival would be perfect for slicing through a tornado of that magnitude. The back of the Hover Cargo opened and let down a ramp for Liger Zero to climb up. Ben twisted the control rods, and pulled back on them to jettison Liger's base armor.

"LIGER ZERO SECURED ON THE MAINTENANCE DECK!"

The panels on the inside of the Hover Cargo opened up, and mechanical arms reached out to remove the Liger's armor. After securing the armor from the Zoid and retracting back into the wall, the panels closed and moved in a rotating motion.

"Liger, activating the system… Percival!" Ben said.

A second set of doors opened to reveal Liger Zero's second armor unit, but on Ben's monitor, he could see that Brad and the Zeekdober were now out of the battle. The arms reached out, and began to attach the gold and white armor of the Percival Unit to the Liger Zero.

The five blades on the mane resembled a set of Rapier blades that were meant to conform to the Liger's head, while the mighty blade of Excalibur was attached to its back. Along with Excalibur was the set of Ion Boosters. The systems all checked out okay, and the Liger was raised up to the catapult for launch.

"LIGER ZERO PERCIVAL CAS; COMPLETE!"

The Liger made it up to the catapult, and just as Ben and his Zoid launched he yelled out a new phrase for this armor unit.

 **"Godspeed PERCIVAL!"**

The Liger Zero Percival was launched from the Hover Cargo, and began to run at full speed towards the tornado. Ben planned to use Excalibur to cut through it, but it would seem as though the Liger had another idea. A blip appeared on his screen, and Ben was confused by the name of the attack.

"Use the King's Lance?" Ben asked.

Suddenly, a new form of armor plating appeared on the inside of the cockpit, and the five Rapier blades popped out towards the tornado like a Javelin. And energy field connected to the spaces between the Rapiers to form a Medieval lance that looked sharp enough to pierce through even the strongest of armor.

Ben activated Percival's Ion Boosters and sped towards the raging winds. With renewed vigor, Ben yelled the name of Liger Zero's newest finishing move.

 **"Have at thee, ye vile wind demon! KING'S LANCE!"**

The blades and energy field of the attack began to glow an intense golden color, and rammed right into the tornado! But instead of being blown away like most people thought might've happened, the attack was cutting through the winds like a hot knife through butter!

As the Liger made it closer and closer to the eye of the tornado, the Great Saber came into view. The attack punctured right through Kevin's Great Saber, and ripped the back mounted weapons right off of the Zoid! The winds slowly died down to reveal that the Great Saber had fallen down with its systems frozen, and Zero Percival standing proud and victorious. From a downed capsule, the Judge sounded the loss of a certain team.

 **"The… Battle… Is… Over! *pant, pant.* The… Battle… Is… Over! *pant* The winner is… THE BLITZ TEAM! *sigh*"**

Once everyone was conscious and outside of their Zoids, Ben was on the field giving medical attention to everyone. Including all of the Zoids. Kirkland, Brad, and Pierce got the worst of it, but they would all make a steady recovery.

"Thanks for the help, Ben." Kirkland said, gratefully. "Even though we don't deserve any of it."

"No biggie. You guys were just following orders." Ben said before looking at Kirkland's improved Saber. "And I see you've finally found your Zoid partner too."

Before anything else could be said, the Whale King from before showed up with someone on the open mouth. It was a man that looked a little older than doctor Toros. He had black hair,green eyes, and was wearing a black suit. He seemed to be pretty beefy for an old man.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it Toros?" the man asked.

"Layon! So YOU'RE the one behind all of that weather!" Doc said in realization.

"I did swear I'd get revenge, didn't I? Today was just a test run." Layon said. "Until we meet again!"

Layon flew away in his Whale King, laughing evilly the whole way. Ben just looked at Kirkland with a look that promised assistance.

"Hey, Tigers. Let's talk business." Ben said.

He and Jamie helped the injured to the Hover Cargo, where they could all rest, and Ben could do some legitimate business with the Tigers Team. And as for Kevin? Let's just say, he'd never set foot near Blitz Team Base again.

* * *

 ** _End Narration (Leena): "Who's this new girl on the block? For someone who looks so gentle, she sure knows how to fight dirty! ...What? She's Harry's SISTER?! More importantly, what's all this talk about me being Harry's girlfriend, anyway?!"_**

 **" _I'll have you know, I only have eyes for Ben! And I'm not ashamed to admit it! Next time, on Ben 10: New Century Zero; The Princess Arrives: Mary Champ! Mary Champ, ready…? FIGHT!"_**


	10. Chapter 10

_**I just felt I should let you guys know that I plan on updating Ben 10, Ben's Quest of the Kaminatrix after I update Ben 10: Spiderman Chronicles. Just thought you'd like to know that.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids!**_

* * *

 **Organized under strict rules and regulations,**

 **Zoid Battles are fighting competitions held on enormous battlefields,**

 **Using mechanical combat units known as Zoids!**

 **The enthusiast young warriors put their pride on the line,**

 **And sharpen their skills against one another!**

 **Battle Mode approved!**

 **Area scanned!**

 **Battlefield, set up!**

 **Ready...?**

 **FIGHT!**

* * *

 **The Princess Arrives: Mary Champ!**

* * *

It's been a few weeks since the Blitz Team's battle with Kevin and the Tigers Team, and things were going pretty well for them. Soon after that battle, doctor Toros had explained to the team about that man who had sponsored the Tigers Team for awhile.

The man was known as doctor Laon, and he was once a good friend and colleague of doctor Toros. However, when Leena's late mother had chosen doctor Steve Toros over Laon, the man had sworn to get revenge against the good doctor. It really reminded Ben of a certain SOMEONE who's name he shall never again mention!

But for now, the whole team was focusing on the present instead of the past. Especially since after their previous win, they were now just one battle away from making it to Class A, and qualifying for greater challenges.

We currently find the whole team was sitting around in the living room of their base listening to some of Ben's past adventures. Currently, Ben was in the process of telling them about the events of the Tiffin of Lewoda when he still had the Omnitrix.

"...And just when it looked like things were going to end well for the Tiffin, Jarrett of Pantofage swallows him whole!" Ben narrated.

The team all pretty much had the same reaction. Wide eyes and open mouths. Although Jamie fell back onto the floor in a dead faint from such horrible information.

"You mean that giant, red fatso ATE the baby?!" Doctor Toros asked with a look of horror on his face.

"Yeah, that was pretty much how I reacted at first too. Although I think Kevin fainted just like Jamie over there did." Ben replied.

Speaking of Jamie, he popped back up to the land of the living. He was on edge about what would happen next in the story. Especially since at the time of the story, Ben was still Rath at that point.

"Well don't keep us in suspense, tell us what happened next!" Brad demanded.

Even the normally calm and collected Pierce was biting her nails in suspense. Ben was planning on keeping them in the dark for a little longer, but he decided to just tell them what happened. Mainly due to the fact that Leena was giving him the puppy dog eyes, and was looking a little pale at the thought of a child being eaten. Alien or otherwise.

"Alright. So after Jarrett told me that a peace offering was an alien that would be eaten, I got so mad that I did something crazy while I was still Rath." Ben said. "I jumped onto the guy's face, forced his mouth open, and jumped down his throat after the Tiffin! After that, I started punching at everything in his gut to free the Tiffin, doing as much damage as I could in the process! Once I had Tiffin safe in my arms, I punched Jarrett's teeth out in order to get outta there! Needless to say, I know know how our food feels."

"Ewww!" Pierce groaned.

"Hey, that wasn't exactly the highlight of my life either." Ben fired back. "Anyway, after Jarrett threatened to declare war on the Lewodans, I jumped up to his face, grabbed him by the ears, and threatened to knit his intestines into a sweater if he followed through with his own threat."

There was silence for a few moments, until Leena started to snicker. It wasn't long until the whole room burst into a fit of laughter at Ben's exploits. Even the ever lazyish Pierce was rolling on the floor laughing until her ribs ached. They suddenly heard the doorbell, and Leena collected herself enough to get up and answer the door.

When she opened it, she was quite surprised to see two people that seemed to look saddened and slightly hopeful about something. There was a man that had brown hair, green eyes, and his skin was a slightly darker tan than Ben's. He was wearing a green T-shirt, khaki pants, and brown shoes. In fact, he looked slightly like an older version of Ben.

Next to him was a woman with blond hair that fell to her shoulder blades, blue eyes, and she seemed to have kept her figure despite her age. She was wearing a dark blue business casual shirt, a pair of skinny jeans, and a pair of high tops. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy with fresh tear stains on her cheeks that meant she had been crying recently.

"Hello? Can I help you?" Leena asked.

"Yes, is this the Blitz Team base?" the man asked. "We're looking for someone very important to us who we think may have joined this team as a Zoid Warrior."

Leena raised an eyebrow at this. She knew from past experience that people looking for Ben were often bad news. Like the Terra Team, for example. But something about these two made her want to give them the benefit of the doubt, so she didn't bring out the frying pan or the butcher knife yet.

"Yeah, this is the place. Who wants to know?" Leena asked.

"Who's there, Leena?"

The man and woman at the door looked behind Leena to see exactly who they were looking for. He may have many new battle scars and was wearing a different outfit, but they could never mistake who he was. And he seemed to be shocked at who was at the door.

"Carl?! Sandra?!" Ben asked in disbelief.

 **"BEN! YOU'RE REALLY ALIVE!"** cried Sandra as she plowed past Leena.

The frantic woman wrapped Ben in an embrace that was practically a death grip due to the strength of her grapple. Ben was too stunned to really do anything. But then, who could blame him? If you hadn't seen your parents in a long time and your mom suddenly hugged you as if you were a dying, you'd probably freeze like a deer in headlights too.

So, naturally, our hero did the only thing he could at the time. He returned the hug with just as much force, and let his tears flow freely out of his only working eye. Ben could only say one word through his own choked back sobs.

"Mom..."

For the first time in a long while... Sandra didn't tell her child to call her by her real name. She was just happy that she could hold Ben in her arms again.

The rest of the Blitz Team smiled at the scene. It was always heartwarming to see a child of any age reunited with their parents. And it was evident that Ben did indeed miss his own parents quite a bit since he had left Earth. When they broke the hug, Sandra lightly gasped at the sight of all of Ben's scars. The fact that he was missing an eye didn't help matters.

"Ben... What happened to you?!" Carl asked.

Ben scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He knew this would probably be very difficult to explain to his parents.

"Where do I even begin...?" Ben asked himself.

* * *

 _ *****Champ Team Base*****_

* * *

While Ben was enjoying being reunited with his parents, Harry had his own problems. He had recently lost an unsanctioned battle to the Backdraft Group and gotten all of his Zoids taken by them. While recovering from that ordeal, his sister, Mary, and some random girl had arrived at his team base.

Mary is actually the older sibling between herself and Harry. She had curly platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, and her skin had a slight tan to it. She wore a pale yellow and pink dress with a pink ribbon tied around her waist, and a white blouse underneath.

The girl with her looked to be of Japanese heritage. She had brown hair, pale skin, and shoulder length black hair that was tied into twin pigtails. She was wearing a pink sweatshirt, a white skirt that fell to her knees, and a pair of pink sneakers.

This is Julie Yamamoto, Ben's ex girlfriend and an aerial Zoid Pilot. She had come to hire the Champ Team to help her get Ben back to Earth, and to try and get back together with him. And in exchange, she promised to help Mary get Ben's Liger Zero, and to help Harry get together with that Leena girl. But there was only one problem with her plan.

They had been to the base and issued the challenge, but there were no other Zoids for Harry, his sister, or the robots to use! And Julie was NOT pleased with that.

 **"HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BEAT THE BLITZ TEAM WITHOUT ZOIDS?!"** Julie asked in rage.

"Don't blame me! Blame the Backdraft Group! After I lost against them, they stole every Zoid I had, except for my Whale King's!" Harry said in his defense.

The Japanese American girl sighed as she plopped down onto the couch. She rubbed her temples to try and stave off the headache she had developed. It would seem that Harry's sister is as dumb as a sack of peanuts.

"Well, this puts a monkey wrench in my plans! How are we supposed to beat the Blitz Team if you don't have any Zoids to fight with?!" Julie asked in irritation.

"That's what I tried to explain to Mary." Harry explained. "First you need to buy the Zoids, then there's the ammo, and you need to think about repairs. All in all, it's not cheap."

"I've done the math, Harry." Mary said, taking a seat next to Julie. "And as far as I can tell, it's the richest team that wins. Am I right?"

"That is true. But some Zoids are exceptional, like the Liger." Harry said. "There's no way we can defeat that thing!"

Harry leaned back into his chair and groaned as he massaged his sore shoulder. That fight with the Backdraft had really roughed him up quite a bit, so he wasn't really at a hundred percent just yet. Mary's attention was caught by the sound of a Whale King landing in front of the base.

"Sounds like Benjamin and Sebastian are back from their errands." Mary said to herself.

Now THAT caught both the attention of Harry, and Julie.

"What errands?" They asked in unison.

They followed Mary out to the landing pad where Sebastian and Benjamin were busy unloading the Zoids that Mary had ordered for the battle. Both Harry and Julie were impressed by the type of Zoids that Mary had decided to use in the battle, but knew that it would no doubt work to their advantage this time.

"I decided to go for the best money could buy!" Mary informed. "So, Harry, what do you think?"

"WOW! This is amazing! Maybe we CAN beat them!" Harry said in joy.

* * *

 _ *****Blitz Team Base*****_

* * *

"...And that's pretty much the gist of my time in the Blitz Team up until this point."

Ben had just gotten finished telling his parents all about his past battles in the Blitz Team. From the battle that started it all, to his battle against Jack Cisco, even his battles with the Backdraft Group. He also told them about how he had fixed up that damaged AT Unit that he had bought from the Tigers Team. Ben had also mounted that weapon onto the Liger Zero's back as the basic Empire armor's primary ranged weapon.

Carl and Sandra were very impressed by all of Ben's impressive feats. Although, they did get a bit worried when he told them about how he charged straight into a cyclone to win a battle. They were also very disappointed by Max, Gwen, Rook, and Kevin's actions in those battles.

"Well, Ben, it seems to me that you've finally found your calling in life." Carl said in approval.

"And it would also seem that you've found yourself a very nice girlfriend." Sandra added, referring to Leena.

Ben smiled in happiness that his parents approved of both his career choice, and the girl he was dating. But he noted that it was getting late. And the team had a battle to get to tomorrow morning, so they needed to be well rested. Doctor Toros seemed to know what Ben was thinking, and voiced Ben's opinion for him.

"Well, it's been a very good opportunity to get to know the parents of one of my team's best warriors, but it's getting late. Why don't you guys stay for the night in the guest room?" Doc asked.

Wanting to spend more time with their son after so long, the Tennyson parents readily accepted. So, Ben showed them to the guest room, left them to get settled, and turned in for the night. He felt the bed shift slightly, and knew that Leena had climbed into bed with him. But, he wasn't complaining. But if he had taken the time to look behind him, Ben would've seen that it wasn't Leena who had climbed into bed with him.

At least, not until a more mature yet feminine voice gave away the identity of the individual who now lie next to him.

"Ben...?"

Our hero's eyes popped open as he turned his head to see that it was Pierce who was lying next to him. She was currently in her night clothes, and seemed to be a little bit afraid of something. But Ben just couldn't figure out what.

"Do you mind if I sleep with you for the night?" Pierce asked. "You won't even know I'm here."

Ben was too stunned to say anything, so he just nodded dumbly. Pierce smiled gently at him, and pulled the covers over them before wrapping an arm around him. The two soon drifted off to sleep as Ben thought only one thing.

 _"What did I do to have two girls after me?"_

* * *

 _ *****The Next Day*****_

* * *

Finally, the day of the battle had arrived. Julie, Mary, and the Champ Team had just landed their Whale King into the perimeter of the battle ground, and were ready to take down the Blitz Team.

"C'mon! Let's go do it!" Mary ordered.

"Yeah!" Harry replied.

"Focus, guys. We have no idea what kind of Zoids or strategy they're going to use against us." Julie reminded. "Remember, what they lack in ammo and money, they make up for in skill."

Driving up to the battle coordinates was the Hover Cargo, with all of the Zoids loaded onto it. All members of the team were in their battle clothes, and were ready to fight. However, Ben still had a few questions that he wanted answered before the battle.

"So, Jamie, remind me again what the rules are for 0892." Ben requested.

"Basically, both teams need to have the same number of Zoids on the field." Jamie replied.

"I see. Any other rules?"

"Nope. That's it."

Ben nodded, satisfied with that information that he had been given. But he soon scowled as a thought occurred to him. One that he knew was going to put them at a huge disadvantage against the Champ Team.

"I bet that they're going to use their money to try and beat us." Ben said bitterly.

"Let them spend away! It won't make a difference!" Leena said in confidence.

"Right. We'll win and take their money. And you'll be closer to paying off what you owe for Liger Zero's transformation parts." Brad added. "As simple as that."

Meanwhile, up in the planet's atmosphere, a Zoid Battle Commission Satellite was over the area where the battle was going to take place. It had already selected the Judge that would be used for this battle, and was just finishing up with downloading the battle data.

"Battle Mode 0982; Zoid Battle approved!"

The Hover Cargo soon made it to the battlefield just in time for the battle. All pilots had gotten ready to mobilize their Zoids, and were ready for combat. The front panel of the Hover Cargo opened to reveal Leena and her Gordos on a launch panel. The Zoid took a few steps before jumping off, and landing on the battle ground.

The catapult opened up as well, and the next Zoids to be launched were the Pteras Bomber, and the Fire Phoenix. They both took to the skies and hovered over their side of the field. Next up was Brad and his Zeekdober. The Dober seemed to be pretty excited at the prospect of fighting stronger opponents. The recent battles had been too easy and too boring to the Doberman Type Zoid.

Before it was launched, Ben took the opportunity to change armor units for the battle. He was going with Liger Zero Overdrive, knowing that he'd need to use his speed and ammunition against these bunch of clowns.

 **"Let's kick it into OVERDRIVE!"** Ben yelled as the Liger was launched.

There was a crash a few miles out, signaling that the Judge had just landed. The Capsule rose up from its crater, and opened up to reveal the Judge.

 **"The area within a thirty mile radius is a designated Zoid Battlefield. This zone is now restricted! Only competitors and personnel have authorized entry! DANGER! All others must leave the area at once! Area scanned... Battlefield, set up!"**

Ben popped his knuckles as he thought about how he was gonna win this match, and keep Liger Zero out of Mary Champ's spoiled little rich girl hands. Plus he had a score to settle with Harry, and wanted to get back at Julie for thinking he'd EVER take her back when she dumped him in the first place!

"Alright. Let's see their Zoids!" Ben said.

"Jamie and I will go check them out." Pierce offered. "Come on, kid."

"Right behind you!" Jamie replied.

The Fire Phoenix and the Pteras Bomber flew off to try and locate the enemy Zoids while the Judge started off the battle.

 **"The Blitz Team vs. The Champ Team. Battle Mode 0982! Ready...? FIGHT!"**

It didn't take long for Jamie and Pierce to spot the enemy Zoids out on the battlefield, and they got closer to see just what they were up against while relaying the information to the rest of their team.

"Enemy Zoids ten miles ahead! They're advancing toward us!" Jamie said over the comm link.

"Wait, what's that? HUH?!" Pierce gasped.

"What? What's wrong?" Brad asked.

The camera zooms in to show that the Champ Team is using four Gorilla Type Zoids that are covered in incredibly tough armor. The Zoids are also equipped with lots of heavy weapons that'll make close range combat, and even shelling tough!

But the fifth Zoid looked like some sort of Pteranodon Type Zoid that was different from the Pteras. It had a more aerodynamic body that was green, no holes in its wings, and a four barrel gun where the neck meets its torso.

"They brought four Iron Kongs with them, along with a Raynos to fight us!" Pierce reported.

Jamie was familiar with the Raynos, but he scanned the Iron Kongs to see what they were up against in this battle.

"It looks like the first two are equipped with heavy arsenals. They've got AZ Anti Aircraft Missiles, and Hellfire Ground Missiles! The others are PK types." Jamie reported, before he got a closer look at the last two. "NO! They're Alamaster M1896es!"

No sooner had Jamie finished his report did the Iron Kongs fire their Anti Aircraft Missiles. Pierce activated her Fire Phoenix's E-Shields to protect herself and Jamie from the missiles, but Jamie was still hit by the Raynos. Jamie cried out in both shock and fear as his Pteras began to rapidly lose Altitude.

 **"I'm leaving the battleground to make an emergency landing!"** Jamie informed.

"You see that, Harry? These Missiles were expensive, but they're worth it!" Mary declared.

"Yeah, I guess..." Harry replied nervously.

"We've NEVER had so much ammo to use!" Benjamin said in joy.

Julie appeared on their monitors looking serious about this. She wanted to get this battle over with so Ben would go back to Earth, and had no time to play around.

"Alright, no one go after the Fire Phoenix! That one's mine!" Julie ordered.

"You got it, Julie!" Mary agreed. "This gives us the perfect opportunity to try out the Ground Missiles."

Her Iron Kong crouched down so it wouldn't be hit by its own weapons, while Harry and the robots huddled up to talk about something.

"What're you gonna do, Harry? Are you really going home?" Sebastian asked.

"After we win this battle, we'll send Mary home with her little Liger souvenir." Harry said before adding "Not to mention Tennyson will finally be out of the picture."

While Pierce was busy handling the Raynos in an aerial dogfight, the Blitz Team was steadily moving out towards the Champ Team's location. They were glad Jamie was okay, but were very worried about just what could happen if they went up against all of those Iron Kongs at once.

"Pierce told us they have four Iron Kongs with them. Those Zoids are no pushovers from what I heard about their part in the Helic/Guylos war." Leena said.

"Bet that cost them a chunk of their allowance." Brad added.

"Don't get cocky, Brad." Ben said. "I know for a fact that those Iron Kongs they're using aren't anything to sneeze at."

Leena's radar beeped a couple of times, and the team knew they were in some trouble.

"Incoming missiles!" Leena warned.

"And it's not just a FEW missiles either!" Brad added.

All three Zoids began to run like heck as they fired at the incoming projectiles. They managed to make some of them explode, but they grunted as some of the missiles hit around them.

"We'll never get close enough to defeat them if they keep firing in those numbers!" Brad said. "Pierce, a little help would be nice!"

But when he looked up, he saw Pierce was up against Julie and had her hand... Er, wings... Full. And Brad's request only served to annoy the green haired pilot.

"I'm a little tied up at the moment!" Pierce grunted. "Ask me again in a minute!"

"Don't worry, guys. I'll cut 'em off before they do any real damage!" Ben said.

He activated Overdrive's Ion Boosters, and charged at the missiles. Making a sharp left turn, Overdrive was able to draw most of the missiles towards itself. Ben kept the turn going, but was straining against the great speeds he was moving at. However, this proved to be worth it as some of the missiles went screwy and hit some of the other missiles.

But Ben still had a few on his tail. He saw a huge rock in front of him, and knew that would be the perfect thing to use as a decoy for these missiles. So at the last second, the Liger made a sharp right turn and the missiles hit the rock instead of the Zoid.

Mary zoomed in on Zero Overdrive, and was pretty confused by this Zoid.

"Huh? I don't get it, what happened to my adorable Liger?" Mary asked.

Harry's Iron Kong was straining to hold up a ridiculously huge warhead that Mary planned on firing next, but he managed to answer her question.

"I-I-It's equipped with all sorts of transformation parts."

"It is?! Think of all the dress up parties!" Mary said like a little girl.

Ben was charging at the Iron Kongs until something caught his eye. It was that warhead that Mary was planning to use! She must've launched it with the intent of defeating Ben, and taking the Liger Zero.

"That girl must have a few screws loose." Ben said to himself.

He boosted out of range of the missile, but was still engulfed in the huge fireball that followed. But the Liger Zero Overdrive ran out of the flames completely unharmed, and intent on taking down the Champ Team! Mary had hearts in her eyes as she kept spamming Ground Missiles at the Blitz Team.

"Look at my golden rose! I can't wait to get it home!" Mary said to herself.

However, she soon realized her mistake. Her constant firing of missiles had caused her Iron Kong to run out of ammo too soon. Ben saw this as the time to launch a counter attack, and charged with Zero Overdrive to take them down.

However, Harry's Iron Kong managed to intercept the Liger Zero, and batted Ben away like an annoying fruit fly. Fortunately, the Liger landed on its feet.

 **"We may be out of missiles, but we're still the Invincible Iron Kongs!"** Harry declared.

The Liger tried to attack again, but this time Harry punched him away. Ben managed to right the Liger before it hit the ground, and took a look around. But he saw that his whole team was struggling against these powerful Iron Kongs and that Raynos.

 _"Overdrive just isn't strong enough to conquer these new enemies! I need to change armor units now, before it's too late!"_ Ben thought to himself.

He knew that he had only one armor that was strong enough to take down an Iron Kong. So he ran back to the Hover Cargo to rearm with it.

"What's the matter, Ben? You gonna run away?" Harry taunted.

"GUYS, HOLD DOWN THE FORT UNTIL I GET BACK! I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!" Ben ordered.

 **"But that makes it three Zoids against five!"** Brad panicked.

Mary turned to Benjamin, and unwittingly gave the Blitz Team a much needed advantage.

"Benjamin, now's your chance to get some ammo." Mary said.

"Uhh, right..."

"Doc, hurry and get the Percival Unit ready for combat!" Ben commanded.

"YOU GOT IT! LIGER ZERO PERCIVAL, COMING UP!" Doc replied.

The back ramp of the Hover Cargo opened up, and Liger Zero Overdrive climbed onto the Maintenance Deck. The Changing Armor System began to replace the Overdrive Armor with the Percival Armor.

Back on the battlefield, Brad grunted as his Zeekdober hit the ground hard. He had been batted away by Sebastian and his Iron Kong. The robot was having a blast toying with his self declared rival.

"Ha ha! Take that, tough guy!" Sebastian laughed.

 **"Let go of me!"** Leena yelled.

Her Gordos was being held in place by Harry's Iron Kong, and Harry seemed to think that this was the perfect time to try and woo Leena.

"Leena, how about taking off with me?"

"Not on your life!" Leena growled.

"Then don't take this personally." Harry said.

He reared back his Iron Kong's fist to try and freeze Leena's computer system, but a yell from Sebastian alerted him to the new danger on the battlefield. Especially since Julie had to make an emergency landing after being hit by a Laser Blade to the wings.

 **"It's Ben!"** Harry yelled.

Leena yelped as Harry threw her Gordos to the side. Her Zoid wasn't frozen, but she wasn't too happy about her Zoid possibly getting damaged by such a throw.

 **"Hey, watch the merchandise, will ya?! You're such a big goof!"** Leena yelled.

However, her attention was caught by something else. Harry and Ben stared each other down as a dust cloud blew past the two Zoids. They wasted no time as they charged at each other with the intent of winning this battle.

"You can make it! Yes! Come on!" Mary urged.

Benjamin slowly walked back to Mary's Iron Kong with his own Zoid's arms full of missiles. He had to reload Mary's arsenal before...

"That's as far as you go!" Pierce declared.

...The Blitz Team got there. The Fire Phoenix, the Zeekdober, and the Gordos were poised to strike at a moments notice. Benjamin groaned as he knew that this wasn't gonna end well for the Champ Team.

"That's it! Come on! Yes! Go!" Mary urged.

Benjamin wasn't given the chance, as the Blitz Team's Zoids opened fire at them. Unfortunately for the Champ Team, all of the bullets hit the ammo that they had brought with them and caused a huge explosion!

 **"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"** Mary cried as her and Benjamin's Iron Kongs were engulfed in a fire ball.

Harry continued his charge at the Liger Zero Percival, but Ben had readied Zero Percival's signature attack.

 **"KING'S LANCE!"**

The two Zoids clashed as they ended up on opposite sides of the field. The energy field that formed the Lance dissipated to reveal the five Rapier blades that formed the base. Harry's Iron Kong toppled over onto its side with its computer frozen, and a sparking hole in its shoulder from the Liger's attack.

"Why me...?" Harry asked himself.

"Ugh... I picked a lousy team to help me!" Julie said to herself.

 **"THE WINNER IS... THE BLITZ TEAM!"**

The Liger Zero roared in victory, obviously very happy to have put those rich snobs in their place. And from the Hover Cargo, Ben's parents were wearing proud smiles. They had watched the whole battle, and were very impressed with their child's performance in battle.

"Oh... That Liger was so cute. It could've been mine!" Mary lamented.

The Iron Kongs that she and Benjamin had piloted were smoking with charred armor in various areas. All in all, they looked downright pathetic.

* * *

 _ *****Later That Day*****_

* * *

It was late afternoon when Mary had decided to head home, and everyone from both teams was there. This was also the moment of truth for Harry, since his sister wanted him to return home.

"These Zoid Battles are far more interesting than I had originally thought!" Mary said.

"Yeah, I guess..." Harry replied.

"If I had known how much fun they were, I would've started participating in them a lot sooner!" Mary added.

"Maybe..." Harry trailed off.

Mary turned to her brother with an understanding look on her face. But it also reflected a sign of encouragement for her brother.

"Bye, Harry. I expect you to return home after you've become an accomplished Zoid Warrior." Mary said.

"Huh? You mean... I can stay?!" Harry asked.

"We did lose, after all." Mary replied. "A deal's a deal. I'll get father to send you some money!"

"THANKS, SIS! YOU'RE THE BEST!"

"OH, AND HARRY? YOU STAY AWAY FROM THAT GIRL!"

And with that said, the four Dibison began to haul off Mary's transport. Their destination? The Champ Family Mansion. As they watched Mary ride away, Ben couldn't help but smile at the interaction between the two siblings.

"You've got a very good sister, Harry." Ben said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Harry replied.

"How do you figure?" Leena asked.

Harry didn't answer. Instead, he just turned to look at the Blitz Team. That determination was once again visible in the man's eyes like the times before he had lost against the Backdraft Group.

"Today marks the day I start rebuilding my Champ Team! Expect a battle sometime soon." Harry declared.

"Sorry, Harry, but since we won that battle our team just moved up a rank to Class A, while you guys got bumped down to Class B. So, you can't challenge us just yet." Ben said with a smirk.

Harry's eyes widened as he realized that Ben was right. And Sebastian only added salt to his wounds with these next words.

"Sorry, Harry, but that's just how it goes."

"We'd really like to accept a battle from you, but we've got a reputation to think about." Brad said.

"But, hey! Work your way up a couple of ranks, and we might consider taking you on." Leena added.

"That, or you could entice us with a lot of Prize Money." Pierce finished.

 **"Aww, come on! Not fair!"** Harry whined as the Blitz Team rode away in the Hover Cargo.

Harry just stood there for a moment before slouching over.

"The road to becoming king is fraught with many obstacles." Harry said in depression.

Benjamin and Sebastian placed a hand on each of Harry's shoulders as they tried to comfort their friend.

"There, there, Harry. Don't feel bad." Benjamin said.

"Everything'll be fine. Just fine." Sebastian added.

* * *

 _ **Ending Narration**_

 _ **Jamie: We have been on a big winning streak, but I'm not exactly sure what we're doing right. The mysterious Backdraft Group comes after us again. Why do they keep making up all the rules?**_

 _ **Sandra: Tell me about it! They interrupted our battle between the Blitz Team, and our team; the Heavy Team! Maybe I should talk to Ben and the Blitz Team about listening to you more...**_

 _ **Jamie: Next time on Ben 10: New Century Zero; The Desert Tusk: Assault of the Warsharks! Ready...? FIGHT!**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids! I also don't own the Static Shock reference used in this chapter!**_

* * *

 _ **Desert Tusk: Assault of the Warsharks!**_

* * *

"Okay, let's see what I'm working with." Ben said to himself.

He was currently trying to work the kinks out of the Liger Zero Overdrive Armor, and was growing a bit concerned. For some reason, the launchers for the missiles were badly jammed and this could pose a problem later on if things got too hectic in battle. Ben had already lost one Missile Pod in a battle against the Styraco Team, a team composed of three normal Dark Horn Zoids, but thankfully the Liger Zero wasn't damaged from the explosion.

The Blitz Team still won that battle, but Ben didn't wanna take any chances of a repeat performance with the missiles. Fortunately, Jamie was willing to give him a hand with figuring out how to fix this problem. But so far, it wasn't looking good.

"What do you think, Jamie? Can we fix this thing?" Ben asked.

"Well, it's hard to say." Jamie replied. "The launcher for the Missile Pod is jammed pretty bad. I think that we can fix it in time for our next battle, but with the condition this thing's in we may need to replace it."

Ben sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That's what I was afraid of..." Ben said to himself. "Well, let's do what we can and hope for the best."

Although, Ben did notice that there was something wrong with Jamie. He seemed to be a little bit steamed about something, even though he did an excellent job at hiding it. Did it have something to do with the team not listening to him during the battle?

It was possible. Jamie did have a knack for coming up with awesome strategies on the field, but once it was battle time everything seems to fall apart and the team just does their own thing. Ben happened to know exactly how that feels.

"Hey, guys! We have a battle scheduled for the day after tomorrow!"

Ben and Jamie looked over to the entrance of the hangar, and saw Pierce walking in. Ben lowered the scaffolding, and Jamie looked pretty shocked that they had another battle so soon.

"But we just had a battle today!" Jamie said in shock.

"I know, but Doc has already accepted the battle, so we don't really have much of a choice." Pierce replied.

"Well, at least this'll bring in some much needed cash." Ben said. "Who're we up against?"

"That's the part that'll probably shock you. We're up against a team known as the Heavy Team. And the pilots are... Your parents." Pierce informed.

 _ ***THUMP!***_

Just like Pierce thought, Ben was indeed shocked by this information. So shocked, in fact, that he fainted on the spot! Pierce and Jamie definitely freaked out when this happened.

 **"BEN! JAMIE, QUICK, GET THE SMELLING SALTS!"** Pierce ordered.

* * *

 _ *****Later That Day*****_

* * *

Altile, commander of the Backdraft Group, was piloting a Dark Horn McMann custom along with two soldiers who were piloting a pair of Iron Kong PK's. He needed the assistance of a certain team of Backdraft warriors that were known to be as ruthless as those who fought in the old wars.

The location of these pilots was only known to a select few pilots in the Backdraft Group, and even then it wasn't easy to get there. But soon enough, Altile and his men arrived at the location of this team.

It was an old rock formation that looked like a giant set of carnivorous teeth. It was smack dab in the middle of a desert, and there were parts of various Zoids that had been destroyed here. Obviously, they were Zoids belonging to warriors who fought this team... And lost.

"This area is our sacred grounds...!" echoed a mysterious voice. "If you do not wish to be destroyed, state your business now!"

Altile didn't say anything. He just stood his ground with his eyes narrowed. Even as his radar system alerted him to the three Zoids that had somehow surrounded them. But the Iron Kong pilots were beginning to have a panic attack.

"Sir, three enemies have somehow surrounded us without our knowledge!" panicked one of the Iron Kong pilots.

"Stay calm!" Altile ordered.

But they couldn't stay calm. The enemy Zoids began to advance on them in an attack formation that just screamed eternal pain and suffering!

 **"They're attacking!"**

In their panic and fear, the two Iron Kongs readied their weapons to attack the enemy Zoids. But this was something that Altile didn't want to happen.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Altile ordered.

But they didn't listen. The Iron Kong pilots fired at the "burrowing" Zoids in an attempt to freeze their systems. But this didn't work in their favor. The first Iron Kong was immediately shot down, while the second one was tripped up by a Zoid that attacked much like an Antlion. Only Altile and his Dark Horn remained standing.

"That was a little bit excessive. Even for the Fuma Team." Altile said.

Within the shadows of the rock formation materialized the leader of the Fuma Team. It was a woman that was about average height. She had wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. She wore a purple and black outfit, and seemed to move like a ninja from ancient Japanese history. Ironically, her name was the same as her team name.

"We apologize, master Altile." Fuma said. "We thought you'd be impressed."

The heads of three Shark Type Zoids emerged from the sand. And standing on the heads of those Zoids were three men. One had blue hair and squinty eyes, another had green eyes and a beard, and the other had black hair and brown eyes.

"We are nothing more than a shadow that moves through the darkness." said one man.

"We surprise our opponents with swift movements, and ambush attacks." said another.

"By the time they know what's happening, there's no time for them to attack or defend!" finished the last one.

"And I am very impressed by your efficiency in battle, Fuma Team!" Altile said.

"Thank you. So, master Altile, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Fuma asked.

"I'm assuming that you've heard about the Blitz Team. I want you to defeat them in battle!" Altile ordered.

Fuma didn't seem so sure about this. After all, the Blitz Team may have captured the attention of a few lower ranked officers, but they weren't all that special! Were they?

"Are you sure that's a wise decision, sir?" Fuma asked. "The Blitz Team is merely some rookie team that's caught the attention of some lower ranked members of the Backdraft Group. If we face them in battle and they lose, they may never recover!"

"I don't care! If the Blitz Team's Liger Zero really is the legendary Ultimate X Zoid, then your team may very well lose against them!" Altile argued.

He was adamant about finding and obtaining a legendary Ultimate X Zoid for the Backdraft Group, and was sure that the Liger Zero was this Zoid. He just needed this battle to take place so that he could confirm his suspicions.

"I want you to defeat the Blitz Team using any means necessary." Altile commanded.

"As you wish." Fuma replied.

With their meeting complete, Fuma faded back into the shadows while the three Warsharks sank back into the ground. Altile smirked as he thought of the battle that would surely bring about the destruction of the Blitz Team.

* * *

 _ *****Blitz Team Base*****_

* * *

It took awhile to wake Ben up from his fainting spell, but eventually they managed to get him up. But then, they couldn't blame him for fainting. I mean you would too if your parents were active Zoid Warriors in the A-Rank competition.

"So, what kind of Zoids do they have anyway?" Ben asked.

"I'm glad you asked, Ben." Doctor Toros said.

He typed in a few codes, and two Zoids appeared on the screen. They appeared to be incredibly heavy Zoids that had enough power to send many a warrior running for the hills. The first Zoid was a Spinosaurus Type Zoid that was built for Electronic Warfare. It was covered in cyan blue armor with a few purple details, red eyes in the canopy, and unlike most of its kind this Zoid had a set of anchors for something. Plus instead of having an ordinary sail on its back, this Zoid's sail resembled the teeth on a buzzsaw.

The second Zoid was an older model Tyrannosaurus Type. It had black colored armor, an orange visor for the canopy, and was more built for close range combat. It had plates on its back like those of a Gordos which suggests that its design was derived from the Zoid. It still had several powerful ranged weapons, but looked to be more of a close range fighter.

"Ben, your mother has a Dark Spiner that's actually a custom made model. It has a special weapon that no other Dark Spiner Zoid has. Your father covers the lack of close range fighting using his standard Gojulas." Doc informed. "I'm certain that you'll find this battle to be quite a challenge as opposed to the recent battles we've been winning."

"Yeah, and I have a feeling that we'll need Jamie to come up with another awesome strategy to use in this fight!" Ben said before turning to the young tactician. "We're all counting on you, Jamie."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say." Jamie said.

But he didn't sound as confident as he normally would, and Ben noticed that. He made a mental note to speak to the young tactician later that day. After all, Doc may have said that Jamie needs to figure this out on his own, but Ben understands that Jamie still needs guidance at this stage of his life.

Sure enough, later that night, Ben found Jamie messing around with some combat situations of the Blitz Team's battles. The boy obviously seemed to be confused about something, because he kept running the simulations over and over again, and each time ended with the same results. Failure.

 _"I just don't understand it."_ Jamie thought to himself. _"How do we keep winning with the way Ben, Brad, Leena and Pierce pilot their Zoids?"_

"Trying to figure out how we've been winning the way we do?" Ben asked.

The sudden question caused Jamie to yelp and fall out of his chair. He was breathing a bit faster, and holding his hand to his chest where his heart would be.

 **"Ben, you know I hate that!"** Jamie yelled.

"Hey, sorry. I just wanted to know why you keep running these simulations of all of our battles." Ben said.

Jamie got back into the chair, and started to playback a simulation of the Blitz Team's battle with the Styraco Team. It simulated the battle with a very different outcome than what really did happen. The Blitz Team lost instead of winning that battle.

"Well, judging from how the statistics on the simulation are implying, we really should be losing more battles than we've been winning. And even though I come up with strategies that should be winning us the battle, you guys always just go off and do your own thing. It makes me wonder why I even bother coming up with strategies anymore." Jamie said in depression.

"That's what this is about?" Ben asked. "Jamie, you need to understand that not every plan works the first time. It's a little something called Murphy's law. But don't let that discourage you."

This little talk seemed to cheer Jamie up right away.

"Thanks, Ben. I needed to hear that." Jamie said with a smile.

With that little talk out of the way, both members of the Blitz Team turned in for the night. The battle was going to be a pretty big one, and they needed to be well rested to defeat the enemy this time. But in the back of his mind, Ben couldn't help but feel like something really bad was going to happen this time. Something he'd be unable to prevent.

And out in the darkness of night, the Fuma Team was advancing toward the battlefield where the Blitz Team's match with the Heavy Team would take place.

* * *

 _ *****The Next Day*****_

* * *

As the Hover Cargo was advancing towards the coordinates for the battle, Ben was getting ready to change armor units for the fight. He knew which one would give him an advantage, but be wanted a second opinion from Liger Zero.

"So, Liger, which armor should we use this time? Percival? Maybe Overdrive?" Ben asked.

But he was surely surprised when the Liger Zero selected the Zero X armor instead of Overdrive or Percival. It just didn't seem like a very practical armor to use against a Zoid like a Gojulas or a Dark Spiner. However, he also understood that the Liger Zero wouldn't choose an armor unit like Zero X unless it knew that the armor would be useful in combat.

"You sure you wanna go with Zero X?" Ben asked.

Liger Zero reared back its head as it roared in affirmative. Ben smiled and nodded, as he got ready to change the Liger's armor.

"You got it, partner. Jamie, activate the system… Zero X!" Ben ordered.

"Right Ben! Transforming now!" Jamie replied.

The CAS System did its job as it removed the Liger's base armor, before attacking the armor for Zero X onto the Zoid. All the while, doctor Toros was beginning to go on a bit of a rant about this armor unit.

"The Liger Zero X! Equipped with two Stun Blades, and two Electron Drivers, it'll really electrify the enemy!" Doc said. "It's the perfect armor to use against an electronic warfare Zoid like the Dark Spiner!"

Brad and his Zeekdober were the first to be launched, but Ben and the Liger Zero X weren't far behind. The catapult was readied, and Ben let loose the new battle call he came up with for this particular armor unit.

 **"Liger Zero X... Put a shock to their systems!"**

The Liger was launched from the Hover Cargo, and skidded to a stop next to the Zeekdober. It roared as it saw its opponents come into view. Sure enough, Carl's Gojulas and Sandra's Dark Spiner walked onto the battlefield. This was going to be a battle that would span the ages of combat. Parent vs. Child!

But this battle would have to wait. For the Judge that landed wasn't one from the Battle Commission... It was a Backdraft Judge!

* * *

 _ **Ending Narration (Sandra): "These Warsharks are absolutely ruthless! They've been using every illegal move imaginable, and have even stooped to attacking the cockpit! Hey, you can't attack the transport like that!"**_

 _ **"Next time on Ben 10: New Century Zero; Liger's Rage: Team Up of the Blitz and Heavy Teams! Ready...? FIGHT!"**_

* * *

 _ **I'm afraid I had to cut this chapter short as I have once again reached an impasse. I don't know what to do for the next chapter! I have some options in mind, so I'm gonna post a poll on this subject. SO PLEASE VOTE AND HELP ME! Next up, I'm updating Ben Tennyson Ghoul of Flames.**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**I know that only one choice got the majority of the votes with the poll I posted, but I think I have a solution that will make all voters happy. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this new chapter, because I enjoyed writing it!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I still don't own Ben 10, or Zoids! BUT I SO WISH THAT I DID!**_

* * *

 _ **Liger's Rage: Team Up of the Blitz and Heavy Teams!**_

* * *

 _"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Battlefield set up!"_

"ISN'T THAT THE DARK JUDGE?!" Leena asked in shock from the Hover Cargo.

"It must be that Backdraft Group we've heard so much about!" Carl said.

"They're really wearing out their welcome!" growled Ben.

Neither team noticed that the sand near one of Liger Zero's forelegs began to sink down to form a pool of some sort. And underneath the sand was none other than Fuma and her Warshark. She had this malicious glint in her eyes at the thought of possibly destroying the Liger Zero and claiming victory for the Fuma Team and the Backdraft.

"You may have thought the Backdraft Group was terrifying before, but the Fuma Team will show you the true meaning of terror!" Fuma gloated.

 _"The Blitz and Heavy Teams vs. The Fuma Team! Battle Mode 0999!"_

"So, where is this Fuma Team?" Ben asked.

"You think they're invisible?" Sandra asked.

"If that's the case, I'll fire a ground barrage and flush them out." Brad said.

He readied the Zeekdober's guns, and took aim at the ground. However, in the Hover Cargo, Jamie was running a scan of the battlefield to see if he could pinpoint the enemy. And what he found made him fearful of just what might happen to the team in this fight. And apparently, Ben noticed the truth at the exact same moment that Jamie did.

 **"Brad, wait! It's not what you think it is!"**

But their warning came too late.

 _"Ready...? FIGHT!"_

Brad began to fire his Zeekdober's weapons all over the ground to try and expose the enemy, but nothing showed up above ground. That is, not until a silhouette of an aquatic creature leapt up from the sand into the smoke cloud. Ben narrowed his eyes in a decisive manner.

"We've gotta take these guys out fast, or we're done for!" Ben declared.

But just as Ben had the Liger Zero X take a step forward, the ground beneath its paw sunk. This caused the Zoid to trip and hurt Ben while he was still in the cockpit. Naturally, after seeing the huge scars her son had, Sandra started to worry quite a bit.

"Ben, be careful! I don't want you to get hurt too badly!" Sandra said in worry.

 **"Sandra, beside you!"** Carl warned.

Sandra had her Dark Spiner move back just in time to avoid a plasma blast that was aimed right at her Zoid's cockpit. The Fuma Team member who fired that shot smirked at the woman.

 **"You're nuts! You can't aim at the cockpit!"**

"Attacking the pilot directly. You Backdraft fools have no honor!" Ben growled as Liger Zero stood back up.

"THEY'RE ATTACKING FROM UNDERGROUND!" exclaimed Brad.

"Lousy sharks!" Carl added.

The Zeekdober, Gojulas, and Liger Zero X began to fire their ranged weaponry at the ground in hopes of getting a lucky shot at the Fuma Team. Unfortunately, their efforts were wasted as the Fuma Team's Zoids effortlessly swam through the sand. One of them breached in front of Ben, hissing in challenge.

"It's a Warshark!" Ben gasped in amazement.

The Shark Type Zoid dove back into the sand, and another Warshark fired its torpedoes into the air. They came down, sending the other Zoids scattering for cover. All except Carl who took the full brunt of the attack, knowing that it was gonna take a lot more than that to bring down his Gojulas.

"WOW! I've never seen Warsharks used like that before!" Doc said in amazement.

"We could use a little support for OUR TEAM, dad! Hold off on being impressed until after the battle!" Leena said.

Both she and Pierce had a sinking feeling about this battle. A sinking feeling in their guts that told them something really bad was going to happen. And for some strange reason... They felt as though it involved Ben.

The Liger Zero X ran across the field to try and stop these Warsharks, but it was intercepted by these Zoids quicker than it could get to a spot. Ben knew what he had to do, but didn't know if he had the time needed to do so.

"Zero X isn't fast enough to fight these guys! I've gotta get to the Hover Cargo, and transform into Overdrive!" Ben said to himself.

But as luck would have it, Fuma was listening in and wasn't about to let the enemy gain an advantage.

"Oh, no you don't! Koga, intercept!" Fuma ordered.

"Roger that." Koga replied.

Faster than anyone could anticipate, Koga's Warshark swam at the Hover Cargo with its dorsal fins poking out of the sand. Jamie was moving as fast as he could to get the transformation equipment for Zero Overdrive ready, knowing what was at stake with this battle. But just as he was about to lower the back ramp to the Hover Cargo... It was too late.

Koga's Warshark breached the sand, and punctured through the hull of the Hover Cargo! And this spelled even worse news with the fact that this action detonated all of the ammo on the Zero Overdrive Armor, and caused an explosion within the maintenance deck of the transport.

 **"NO! GUYS!"** Ben cried in fear. "JAMIE, COME IN! DO YOU READ? IS EVERYONE OKAY?!"

Ben was absolutely hysterical. If anything happened to the team that he could've prevented because of the Fuma Team's actions, he'd never forgive himself! Ben silently prayed to whatever God was listening that everyone in the Hover Cargo wasn't hurt. And it would seem that his prayers were answered when he got a response.

"I read you, Ben. We're all okay, but there's been some serious damage done to the Hover Cargo." Jamie replied. "The back door for the Hover Cargo is jammed, so you can't come back to transform into Overdrive! And Doctor Toros has been knocked out cold!"

"Uh, actually, Ben may not be able to transform into either Overdrive or Percival AT ALL." Leena added. "That Warshark's attack caused the ammo that Overdrive had to detonate. The resulting explosion has completely destroyed both armor units! Fortunately, the basic Empire Armor survived the explosion."

Sandra didn't like what was going on, so she tried calling the Dark Judge to try and figure out what was going on.

"Come in, Judge! Isn't it against the rules for any team to attack the transport?"

 _"Battle Mode 0999 has no rules. You either win, or lose! Ha ha ha ha!"_

 **"Then maybe you should start playing by the rules!"** Brad yelled.

But before he and the Zeekdober could do anything, one of the enemy Warsharks clamped its jaws down on one of the Zoid's hind legs. Brad cried out in surprise as the Warshark began to quickly drag his Zoid across the battlefield, and into a rock. This damaged the Zeekdober, but neither the Zoid nor its pilot were out of the fight just yet.

And Ben was really pissed off at the Fuma Team's actions. They were really trying to kill their enemies, and he wasn't gonna let anyone die on his watch! Even though he doesn't have a watch.

 **"YOU FOOLS ARE IN FOR IT NOW! COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A FISH!"** Ben yelled in anger.

Liger Zero began to chase after the Warshark, but he was attacked by that same one that he was chasing. It seemed impossible for this Zoid to move that fast, and yet it did anyway!

"How'd he get behind me so fast?!"

Ben had no more time to ponder this as the enemy Warshark rained down a Hellfire barrage of torpedoes. The Liger Zero took a direct hit from all of the torpedoes, thus showing first hand that the Zero X armor had very little durability. The armor was blown to pieces while still being attached to the Liger, and Ben had actually suffered even worse damage!

So bad, in fact, that the huge scar across his chest reopened and began to bleed profusely. He cried out in pain as old wounds began to reopen and cause even more pain than Ben has ever felt before. But the barrage didn't stop as all three Warsharks had ganged up on the Liger Zero. But they soon ran out of ammo, and backed off for a bit to examine their handywork.

" **BEEEEEN!"** Leena, Sandra, and Pierce cried out in horror.

One for the safety of her child, the other two because the man they love might be dead right now. However, Fuma and her team were smirking at the possible death of a Blitz Team member.

"Hm! Another one bites the dust!" Fuma said arrogantly.

That's when a familiar silhouette began to show through the smoke. A silhouette that caused the Fuma Team to recoil back in utter disbelief.

"WHAT?!"

The Liger Zero was still standing! Its armor may have been destroyed beyond all recognition, but it was ALIVE! And its computer system hasn't frozen yet! Liger Zero roared in utter rage as it felt the life draining from its partner, but the other teams failed to notice this.

"How could it withstand such an assault?!" Fuma asked herself.

"BEN?! BEN, ARE YOU OKAY?! PLEASE DON'T DIE!" Leena cried, tears freely falling down her face.

But there was no response from Ben as of yet. It seemed as though he wasn't going to make it out of this one alive, like he had all of his other battles. Doctor Toros had come to by this point, and couldn't believe what was happening. One of the pilots on his team was possibly dead, and there was nothing he could do about it! It seemed hopeless…

"*ZZZT* I'm okay… I'll be…*ZZZT KZZZKT* fine…!"

The others snapped out of their stupor when they heard Ben's voice, but from the monitors inside the cockpit, they could see that something had changed about him. He was completely healed! His scars were gone, and his missing eye had regenerated! But that wasn't all that had happened to him.

Ben's skin had become considerably pale, but more of a natural pale color, and he had gained these odd blue markings on his forehead. He was grinning at the prospect of battle, and did something no one expected him to do. He made the Liger Zero jettison its armor and charged at the Fuma Team at speeds that made Overdrive look as slow as a Cannon Tortoise in comparison! He moved so fast that the Warsharks were blasted out of the sand by the sonic boom that followed.

This included a Warshark that was slightly bigger than the others and had more of a dark pink paint job. The sonic boom not only blew them out of the sand, but it also froze their computer systems with no damage being done to the now naked Liger Zero. Ben smiled proudly at his Zoid.

"Perfect job! Thanks for protecting me… Zeke." Ben said.

Liger Zero roared in victory and happiness that his pilot was alive, as the spirit of a certain Organoid lives on in this Zoid.

* * *

 _ **Ending Narration (Doctor Toros): I can't believe that Ben is actually a descendant of one of the legendary Zoidians! But how did this happen? And more importantly, how are we gonna replace Liger Zero's armor units?**_

 _ **...Wait a minute, Leena has a plan for that? Well, I just hope that it works, because we'll need all the help we can get for this next battle. Next time on Ben 10: New Century Zero; Raging Inferno: Transforming into Liger Zero Swampfire! Ready…? FIGHT!**_

* * *

 _ **List of Stories to be Updated**_

 _ **Guardians of Twilight**_

 _ **Ben 10, Kami's Avatar of the Omniverse**_

 _ **Samurai of Manyū**_

 _ **Solar Prince: Dark Skar's Song (Halloween Upload)**_

 _ **Chaotic: Ben 10 Style**_


End file.
